Snow Angel
by Crimson Sweetness
Summary: Winter was always the one in the background. An extra in a movie about her sister. Despite how well they got along, it's always felt like this. When she visits her sister at Beacon, a certain someone catches her eye. Will everything work out for her? Or will she be thrown into the background once again? *DISCLAIMER: Written before Winter was revealed at RTX*
1. Chapter 1

A knock resounded throughout the dorm and Weiss sighed. She was hoping for a little peace and quiet, but it seemed like she wasn't going to get it. She sat up from her desk and answered the door, to say she was surprised would be a massive understatement. For when she opened the door, someone she hadn't seen in a long while was on the other side. "Big sis!" She was brought into a tight hug. "I haven't seen you in like, forever!" She smiled widely and pulled her in closer.

"What are you doing here, Winter? Did father say it was okay for you to come here?" Winter stepped away, looking down and nervously rubbing her arm.

"Well, he doesn't exactly know. I have some friends covering for me, and he's away on a business trip for the week. I figured it wouldn't hurt to come down to visit for a couple of days." Weiss shook her head.

"You know he'll be angry with you if he finds out. He was hesitant to even let me come to Beacon, he thinks it's dangerous here. What do you think will happen if he finds out that his 'precious baby girl' is here with me?" Winter winced at their father's nickname for her. Weiss had said it through grit teeth and an angry expression. Winter had always been his favorite, she felt guilty because of it. There had always been drama between Weiss and their father after she was born. But even so, they got along great! They were basically inseparable when they were younger.

"I don't care what he'll do. I miss you, and I want to meet your friends! The ones you always tell me about in your letters! Especially your partner, Ruby, it would be nice to have a friend my age instead of thirty year old maids for once."

"I miss you too, sis! And I know you'll be great friends with Ruby, you two act so much alike that it's scary."

"Where are they now though?"

"Ruby and Yang are probably training, and Blake is more than likely in the library." Winter nodded.

"What about the others? Team JNPR?"

"Probably in their dorm." Winter's eyes lit up.

"Can you introduce me to them? They live right across from you right?"

"Alright, I guess. Come on." Weiss rolled her eyes as her sister jumped in excitement.

* * *

Nora sat with her laptop resting on her lap, headphones on. She was nodding her head up and down, and quietly humming along to the music. Ren smiled as he read a book that Blake had loaned him. Pyrrha was chatting away with Jaune, laughing at a joke he told. This was what they did everyday, it was normal, it was peaceful. There was a knock at the door, Nora took off her headphones and got up to answer it. "I'll get it." She opened the door and tilted her head in confusion. Weiss had barely ever visited their dorm without the other's. "Hey Weiss, what's up?" Jaune looked over at the mention of Weiss' name.

"I've got someone I would like you all to meet, may we come in?" Nora stepped out of the way, and waved them in. Ren bookmarked the page and closed his book, Jaune and Pyrrha waved to her as she entered. As Winter entered the room, Jaune nearly choked. She had silver hair like Weiss, though hers was short and had dark purple highlights. It was done in a way that made her seem elegant and fragile, but artistic and carefree. She wore a loose fitting white slip on knit sweater, and black leggings. A simple pair of black boots rounded out the outfit. One single thought echoed through Jaune's mind. _She's cute._ "This is my little sister, Winter! She'll be staying with us for a few days."

"Hey everyone!" Winter said with a shy smile.

"It's great to finally meet you, I'm Pyrrha Nikos." Pyrrha shook her hand.

"It's great to meet you too! Weiss talks about all of you a lot in her letters!"

"Weiss talks about you a lot as well! I'm Nora, Nora Valkyrie!" Nora said as she gave her a hug.

"Sorry, she's like that with everyone. My name is Lie Ren, but you can just call me Ren. Everyone else does." Ren said, dragging nora back to her bed.

"And you must be Jaune, right?" Winter asked, turning to face him.

"Yep, that's me. Jaune Arc, biggest failure of the great Arc family!" Winter giggled.

"I highly doubt that. You're the team leader aren't you? So you must be really good."

"Tactically, yes. In terms of fighting however... We're getting there." Pyrrha said. "I'm training him."

"If you have the great Pyrrha Nikos training you, then there's nothing to worry about!"

"Yeah, I'm lucky to have a partner like her." Pyrrha hugged him. "She's like the sister I always wanted."

"And he's like the brother I always wanted!" Weiss and Winter smiled at each other. Weiss put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"We should get going. My team might be back soon." Winter nodded, they said goodbye to everyone and left.

* * *

"I don't see what's so bad about Jaune. He seems like a nice guy."

"Well, he is now. But he used to ask me out constantly, it was so annoying. Recently he stopped. I think he finally got that I wasn't interested." Winter crossed her arms.

"So you didn't even give him a chance? Weiss, this is why everyone calls you Ice Queen. This is why you've never been on a date before."

"Neither have you!" Weiss said in defence.

"Yeah, but I'm an introvert, and don't have very many friends. You on the other hand, are very social, and have received a lot of attention from boys. So I have an excuse." Weiss huffed.

"Yeah, whatever. I might have given him a chance, but like I said, he stopped asking me out."

"That's your fault." She sighed.

"I know, and I kind of regret it." She glared at Winter. "If you tell anyone that I said that, I will hurt you." Winter laughed. Weiss smiled playfully.

"You could always ask him out, you know."

"Yeah, I could. But I won't. I'd rather him ask me. Besides, I don't really know how I feel about him. Don't get me wrong, he's a good friend. He's got some good qualities too. He's noble, honest, he tries his hardest at everything he does. He's kind of good looking as well, if we're being honest here. He's also a huge dork."

"You do have a thing for dorks."

"Yeah, don't know why. But I do."

"So, since you're kind of on the fence about the whole thing, you wouldn't mind if I…"

"Winter?"

"You wouldn't mind if I tried? Right? He looked interested in me. Didn't he? He was kind of looking at me funny." It was true, Weiss had noticed the looks. They were the same looks he had given her when they first met.

"Sure." Weiss said reluctantly. She figured she would probably end up regretting it, but her sisters happiness came before hers. And if they did end up getting together, she knew she could trust Jaune not to hurt her or take advantage of her.

"Thanks sis!"

"You're welcome, just promise me you'll take it slowly. I'd rather you get to know him more, you know, make sure he's your type."

"Of course. That was the plan."

* * *

Ruby cheered on as Yang knocked out yet another random student. As her victims piled up, she grew tired. And bored. It was more boring than it was tiring. There were only a few people that could actually handle her in a fight. She hated that fact. She loved fighting, it was her art. Whereas Weiss was good at calligraphy and singing, and Blake was good at writing, she was good at fighting. Something she shared with Ruby. But even Ruby had painting and drawing. Yang was just talentless when it came to that kind of stuff. She was excellent at boxing though, and fighting with her fists in general, so she liked to fight and practice whenever she could. Jaune had asked her for training in hand to hand combat, maybe she should accept. She thought it might give her something to do. She held up a hand to stop the next student from getting in the ring. "Alright, I'm out." She climbed over the ropes and walked over to Ruby, taking a seat beside her.

Ruby handed her a water bottle. "Here."

"Thanks." She took a huge drink, and gasped for air. She took a bigger drink than she thought, it hurt her throat on the way down. She winced in pain. Ruby chuckled. "Don't laugh at my pain!"

"I can laugh at what I want! Come on, let's go back to the dorm. You look like you're about to pass out." Yang stretched, making her back pop.

"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." Yang stood back up and groaned. "My feet are killing me."

"Quit whining, you're fine."

"Shut up, you're like, ten." Ruby chuckled once again.

"That hasn't worked on me since I _was _ten." Yang smiled as thoughts of a ten year old Ruby flashed through her mind.

"Yeah, and then you grew a mouth."

"Hey!" Yang ruffled her hair.

"Alright, let's get going." Ruby was about to retort, but decided it was better just to leave it alone. She was still years away from being as good at insults as Yang. They left the training rooms and made their way back to their dorm. Yang swiped her scroll and opened the door.

"Oh, there you two are!" Weiss exclaimed. "We've been waiting for you!" Yang looked over to Winter with a confused face.

"Who's this?"

"She kind of looks like you." Ruby said.

"Girls, meet my sister, Winter!"

"Oh! It's great to finally meet you! Weiss has told us so much about you!" Yang said.

"You must be Yang, right?" She nodded. "Then you must be Ruby, hello! It's cool to meet someone my own age for once!" Ruby lit up when she heard that. It had been a while since she had been around someone her age, having to leave her old friends to come to Beacon.

"Hey Weiss, could you help me with something real quick?"

"Um, okay."

"Great! Come with me!" Yang pulled Weiss out of the dorm, leaving Ruby and Winter alone. The room was filled with an awkward silence, as they struggled to come up with something to talk about.

"So… Do you like cookies?" Ruby slapped herself internally. It was the best she could come up with at that current moment. Winter smiled widely.

"I. Freaking. Love. Cookies!" Ruby sighed in relief. Maybe they would become friends after all.

* * *

"Okay, so I don't need your help. I just needed an excuse for us to leave the room."

"What? Why?"

"Ruby doesn't make friends very easily. She's very awkward socially, so she needs a push sometimes. And this is good for her. She doesn't have any of her friends from Signal here with her, so she's surrounded by older people." Weiss nodded in understanding.

"They should become quick friends. They're the same in so many ways. Do you know when Blake will get back from the library?"

"Nope. You know how she is around books. She might be there all night. What about team JNPR? Did you introduce them to her yet?"

"Yep. Earlier today. Their reactions were as you would suspect. Although, it brought about an unexpected development." Yang smirked.

"Vomit Boy didn't hit on her did he? Man if he did, I would not want to be him!" Weiss smiled proudly.

"Surprisingly no, he didn't. But he did get that look in his eye. You know the one, and she seems to have taken a liking to him. She's going to try and get closer with him." Her smile faltered as she spoke. Yang put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her with sympathy. She knew how Weiss felt about him, whether Weiss knew it herself or not. She also knew how it was, how her little sister's happiness came before hers. It was the same with Ruby. She would gladly give up her own happiness so Ruby could live a good life. "But, I suppose if something does come of that, I'm glad it's Jaune." Yang could understand that. He was a good person, he could be trusted.

"You know, at one point I thought Ruby had a crush on him. I thought the same thing."

"I could see Ruby having a crush on him. They would be cute together."

"Wouldn't they? I could see Winter with him too. They would be cute together as well.

"Yes, I suppose so… Does it make me a horrible person to say that I would rather it be Ruby than my sister?"

"Not at all. Because if it was Ruby, you wouldn't feel bad about being jealous." Weiss winced at the truth behind her words.

"It's just, he's one of the only guys who's actually shown interest in me, instead of my name. Y'know? He was so close to breaking me. I was so close to saying yes. But he just stopped. I know he's still interested, and I could just ask him out. But now, it would be unfair to Winter. I couldn't do that to her. She was always the one in the background, while I was being swamped with invitations to balls. I was the one who received all the attention. It's why she turned out the way she is. Why she isn't so… Posh. You saw the way she was dressed. And those highlights in her hair, it's pretty but I could never do that to my hair."

"True, she did seem more… Normal? No offense or anything."

"None taken. It's true. If it wasn't for me telling you, you wouldn't even be able to tell that she's a Schnee. And yet, she was always our father's favorite, so some of our personality leaked through." She cringed as she mentioned Winter's relationship with their father. Yang frowned.

"Daddy issues?"

"You have no idea." Weiss sighed. "Anyway, yeah. Jaune and Winter. It's a thing that could happen, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I feel so guilty. I shouldn't be jealous of my sister, it feels wrong."

"Well, it could happen, but it also couldn't. If it doesn't, then no problem, right?" Weiss took a deep breath and exhaled shakily.

"Right. I guess."

"Good, now let's get back in there before they destroy something. If they're as similar as you say they are, then it's not a good idea to leave them alone for extended periods of time."

"I agree." They entered the dorm to find Ruby and Winter with chocolate smeared across their faces, and several empty packages of chocolate chip cookies. Weiss and Yang gaped at the two of them.

"What?" They asked in unison. Weiss and Yang facepalmed.

* * *

Author's Notes: I got the idea, and I loved it so much. This pairing hasn't been done before to my knowledge, and I just wanted to give it a little push. I don't plan on making this a full story, and I'm going to try and finish it in as few chapters as I can without making it feel rushed. I already have a lot on my plate, so please forgive me for adding yet another thing to it. I don't know how often I'll update this, so sorry if it takes a long time between chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, Blake had returned from the library to find her teammates asleep. She was curious as to why there was another girl in Weiss' bed, until she noticed a piece of paper sitting on her bed. She read it and smiled at Winter as she slept.

_Blake,_

_You may be wondering why there's one extra person in our dorm tonight. My sister, Winter, decided to drop in rather unexpectedly. She's going to be spending a few days with us, I hope tomorrow you two can properly meet each other._

She looked over the flawless handwriting. Weiss' was graceful in everything she did, it inspired a sense of jealousy in even the most reserved and taciturn people. It was beautiful, she was beautiful, she hated to admit it, but she was jealous. Horribly jealous. And jealousy wasn't an emotion she was used to feeling. She hated herself for it, but what could she do? Absolutely nothing. She sighed and laid down in her bed, ready to fall asleep and wake up to a new and beautiful day.

* * *

It was raining. That was the first thing Blake had noticed when she opened her eyes. Naturally, being a cat faunus she absolutely despised any form of water, rain included. Showers and baths were okay though. It was not going to be a good day for her. She hated being inside all day, she would much rather sit under her favorite tree and read her cheesy romance novels in the shade. That was a normal and perfect day for her. A yawn from the other side of the room caught her attention. Winter rose from the bed and stumbled into the bathroom. She must be a morning person, unlike Weiss, who would rather you throw ice cold water on her than get up early. Blake had to admit, she was really cute. Her pajamas were simple, a black shirt that was too large for her and black pajama pants. They looked extremely comfortable. Her hair was a messy tangle of silver and purple, but like Ruby's it was a cute kind of messy. She always wondered how Ruby pulled that off. Maybe it had to do with the length of her hair. Messy long hair was more of an annoyance than it was cute. It gets all ratty and tangled up, and brushing it is just the worst.

Winter sleepily stumbled out of the bathroom and rubbed her eyes. Blake slid off her bed and approached her. "Hey." Winter's eyes snapped open and she shook her head.

"Oh, hi! You must be Blake!" They shook hands.

"I'm sorry we couldn't meet yesterday, but I didn't get back to the dorm until late last night." Blake explained, smiling shyly.

"Don't worry about it, Weiss said that you were way into reading, so I expected it! Introverts tend to know the habits of other introverts, after all."

"Right. We should probably wake the other's up. It's almost time for breakfast." Winter's eyes shone with happiness at the mention of breakfast. It was probably her favorite meal of the day. They got to work waking up Ruby and Yang. Ruby bolted up as soon as food was mentioned, and Yang glared at Blake through a curtain of hair. Weiss was a different story however, she absolutely refused to get up. Winter told everyone to go on ahead and wait for them. Being her sister had it's perks. For example, knowing where she was ticklish and where she wasn't. Winter pounced on her and started her relentless attack. Weiss bursted out into a fit of laughter.

"Stop it, sis!"

"Not until you get up!" Weiss cursed.

"Okay, okay! I'll get up! Just please stop!" Winter pulled her hands away and cheered triumphantly. "You should know to never do that! Especially when I'm going through… _That time._" Winter laughed at her sisters flustered expression. "It's not funny!" Winter started laughing harder.

* * *

Jaune sat down next to Ruby, smiling at the way she was so invested in Nora's story. "Hey, Jaune."

"Hey, Red. What's her story about this time? Same thing as usual?" Ruby giggled.

"Yeah, but it's a good story. For some reason it never gets boring." Jaune looked at Nora. She was good like that. She knew how to keep things interesting. Weiss and Winter sat down across from them. Weiss ate the usual, two pancakes and a carton of milk. Winter on the other hand had a stack of four pancakes and bacon. Lots and lots of bacon. As well as three cartons of milk. Which was only two less than what Ruby had. She was starting to remind him of her. He looked back over at her, to see her dip her bacon in syrup and eat it in one whole bite. Winter looked up to see the stares she was receiving.

"What? I like bacon! There's nothing wrong with that!"

"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed. They highfived each other over the table. The table broke out in laughter. The dreary weather was forgotten as they happily talked amongst themselves. Winter couldn't stop staring at Jaune. She would always catch herself and look away, but she was sure the others noticed. Not Jaune though, which was odd considering he was staring at her just as much, not as obviously as she was, but still. Weiss didn't know why, but she felt like crying. She wanted to be away from them, away from everyone. But still she stayed. Weiss' situation would surely bring about drama, there was no avoiding it. She damned herself as soon as she gave Winter the okay. She just hoped that their relationship would be spared, but that was highly unlikely. It was already strained enough as it is.

"Hey Winter, Ruby and I were planning on catching a movie later today. You wanna come?" Jaune asked. Ruby jumped up.

"Ooh yeah! You want to?"

"Sure, sounds like fun!" She would get to spend time with Jaune, _and _Ruby, it was perfect.

* * *

Winter was having the time of her life! She thought that Jaune and Ruby would pay more attention to each other considering they've been friends for a long time, but they were actually including her in conversations and asking her opinion on things, completely interested in what she had to say! It was a startling contrast to what her life was usually like. While she had the attention of their parents, Weiss had the attention of the media and people that wanted to be her friend. And guys that just wanted to get up her skirt. That was the one thing she wasn't jealous of. Nobody should have to go through harassment of that nature, especially someone like Weiss, she deserved so much better. And from the looks of it, she had got exactly that. She had a wonderful life at Beacon, with wonderful friends. The media left her alone, and no one really even cared that she was there. She was normal for once, and Winter thought she would hate that, but she didn't, in fact she loved it.

The movie was great, she didn't think a movie could make her laugh so much, but it had. By the time they left the theatre, her sides felt like they were going to split open. They walked around a bit after that, all three wearing rain coats and holding umbrellas. None of them really minded the weather, Winter loved the rain herself. There was a certain feeling that came when it rained, she couldn't tell exactly what it was but she loved it all the same. It was like a melancholy yet happy feeling. No, happy wasn't the word. Optimistic maybe? They had stopped talking a long time ago and were now just enjoying the atmosphere around them. It was peaceful. Winter felt as though everything was going to be okay, even though she knew it probably wouldn't. Her and Weiss' relationship was going downhill, that was very obvious to the both of them. Weiss leaving for beacon was probably going to be the last nail in the coffin, but she had delayed that. She made sure to send letters and such. Weiss disliked texting and calling people, she didn't know why, but whatever made her happy.

She had come to Beacon out of desperation, but she couldn't let anyone know that. She was completely terrified that things would become so bad between them that they wouldn't even talk. She didn't want that, she wanted things to be back to the way they were. But were they good back then? She kept on asking herself that question. It certainly seemed like they were, but Weiss was very good at hiding her emotions, even when they were little. She knew now that there must have been some form of hard feelings between them all those years ago, there's no way that there wasn't. That wasn't what scared her though, what scared her was how different things were now. Whenever Weiss hugged her, she could feel it. Whenever Weiss spoke with her, she could feel it. There was apprehension hidden behind every bit of interaction they had, and it terrified her. Even when they were sleeping something felt off. They were no strangers to sleeping in the same bed, after all they had shared more than that growing up. Baths, food, you name it. But for some reason, it felt so astronomically different, and it wasn't just because they were older.

"Hey Winter, you mind if I ask you something?" Ruby had spoken to her, knocking her out of her thoughts.

"Hm? Oh yeah, sure!"

"Do you like Jaune?" Winter stopped walking. Ruby stopped as well. She quickly looked around, noticing for the first time that Jaune was nowhere to be seen. Ruby noticed her confusion. "I asked him to go on ahead and wait for us." Winter nodded.

"I don't know if I like him. But I'm interested in him, y'know?" Ruby smiled and laughed.

"You know, I felt the same way when I first met him. But I didn't really have any experience with boys at the time either."

"So do you? Like him?"

"Nah. He's a great guy, but I just see him as a really good friend. And besides, I'm not really interested in a relationship right now. I'm really busy and all that. Jaune's got a tactical mind, I don't. I have to study so much I barely have time for anything anymore except on weekdays."

"That's not healthy, you should slow down a bit."

"Maybe… But Weiss gets on to me if I don't keep up with my studying. And I'm sure you of all people know an angry Weiss isn't a good one." Winter giggled. "Anyway, we should probably get going." They caught up to Jaune, and lapsed back into comfortable silence. Winter's thoughts turned back to Weiss. Mainly to how she could fix things between them. If she could just get her to open up, talk about things, then maybe everything would be okay. Maybe.

* * *

Weiss' way of dealing with things was unorthodox. It was destructive, and it hurt her more than it helped. That is to say, she didn't deal with them. She kept her feelings bottled up, she ignored her problems hoping they would go away. But they never did. They just came right back, to visit her at Beacon. She slumped over her desk and hummed a sad tune. She loved her sister more than anyone. She wanted everything to be alright between them. But she was to blame for everything, or at least that's what she believed. She ran away from her sister, away from her father. She thought that maybe, just maybe, things would be better if she did. Winter's life would be a lot better if she just disappeared, and her father probably wouldn't even care. But then Winter insisted upon writing her letters, and what could she do? Ignore them? That was too cold, even for her. So she wrote back. And now Winter was back with her. Only for a little while, yes. But she had a feeling she would visit more than just once, because now she had friends, and Winter's never really had friends other than her before.

Even if their father said no she would find a way, she always did. Weiss would just have to deal with it. "I can't run away this time… Maybe this is a good thing." She whispered to herself. "Maybe we can fix things."

* * *

Author's Notes: I've been taking it slowly for the past day or two. Before I was cranking out chapter after chapter, I was never really satisfied with them, so I'm gonna take it slowly for a while and see if I like my chapters more. I'm not gonna get better if I rush through the writing process all the time. I'm still trying to think of a direction for SFOAYR, I'm sorry for not updating that in a while. I'll get on that as soon as I can convince myself to pick an idea and stick with it.


	3. Chapter 3

Winter strode through the gardens, taking in the beautiful weather and smelling the scents of the various types of flowers on display. It was all quite breathtaking, she had never seen a garden quite so large and expansive. The one at Schnee manor didn't even come close to it. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, enjoying the feeling of fresh air entering her lungs. The edges of her mouth twitched into a barely perceptible smile, she remembered a poem she had once read in their private library as she passed by some light blue flowers.

_I end not far from my going forth  
By picking the faded blue  
Of the last remaining aster flower  
To carry again to you._

That one stanza had always appealed to her. Though the poem it was written for was of a slightly melancholic nature, she found it was a hopeful ending. One that promised great things, and promised the hope of great things. She always thought herself poetic, but really it was just the pretentious thoughts of a girl who was probably more lonely than was healthy for her age, and she knew it. But she truly did love poetry, it was one of her favorite ways to spend her time. Writing it, reading it, she didn't care. As long as the words evoked some semblance of emotion, she was happy.

Weiss always liked to read her poetry, maybe she should get someone to send over some copies for her. She stopped to rest in the shade of a tree and sat down on the ground, not caring if the still damp ground stained her pants in any way. Even though it had rained yesterday, the storm went on longer than anyone thought it would, going well into the night. But she was glad it did, she liked to take early morning walks, especially after it rained. The petrichor was intense that morning, as they had previously been going through somewhat of a drought. The pleasant smell mixed with the nearby patch of roses was heavenly.

"Hey, Winter, enjoying the fresh air?" Jaune had stopped in front of her with a small grin on his face.

"Yep, it's refreshing. Nothing like the air near our home." She patted the spot next to her, inviting him to sit down. He gladly accepted. "We have factories close by us, so we probably get more polluted air than all of the city."

"Wow, that sounds terrible."

"It is, but it's necessary for a lot of reasons. It's one of the reason's I don't go out much when I'm there. I'm kind of making the most of what time I get here."

"Oh yeah, you're just visiting." Winter couldn't help but hear a slight sadness in his words. "So, when are you leaving?"

"In about two days. But I'll be back as soon as I can, I really like it here."

"It is pretty wonderful. I've been here for months and I still haven't seen everything." He lifted his head up and stared at the clouds passing by. He always liked to watch the clouds, it was something he always did as a child. It calmed him, gave him a sense of peace. There was a moment of silence as Winter joined him in his cloud watching.

"Can I um, ask you something?" She cursed internally, she hadn't meant that to come out as nervously as it had. Jaune didn't seem to notice.

"Sure. Fire away." She gulped and brought her hands together, rubbing her left hand's fingers with her right's.

"Weiss, in her letters, mentioned that you're a very flirty person, yet you didn't flirt with me."

"I dropped that a long time ago. I only ever did it because I knew I was going to fail, I thought, what did I have to lose? You know?" She nodded. "But then I learned a very important lesson, but that's a story for another time. Long story short, I realized that just being myself was a lot easier, and probably better in the long run. But why'd you ask? Did you want me to flirt with you?"

"Not really, I was just expecting it was all. I'm kind of glad you didn't. I wouldn't really have known what do if you had." She admitted. Jaune understood, in the few instances where girls _did _flirt back, he was completely clueless. Though he would never admit that. The silence returned and they went back to watching the clouds. Jaune's scroll beeped, he reached into his pocket and pulled it out. He opened it up and swiped at the screen, bringing the messaging system up. Ruby had sent him a picture of Nora scarfing down several pancakes.

_Ruby Rose: Where are you? Is winter with you? If so, get your butts down here, Nora's going to eat all the pancakes if you don't hurry._

Jaune laughed and typed a reply.

"That was Ruby, we're missing breakfast."

"Alright, let's go. By the way, what were you doing walking around here at six in the morning anyway? You a morning person too?"

"Dust no, Nora's snoring woke me up, I couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to take a walk." Winter giggled. "I suppose it isn't all bad though, it's a beautiful morning, and I got to spend some time with you!" She gave a warm smile in return and they started walking down the path to the exit.

* * *

"About time you two got here, I saved you some food." Ruby shoved the trays of food over to Winter and Jaune. "I know it's not a lot, but you're lucky I managed to get this much, I swear, Nora's like a vacuum when it comes to food."

"Thanks, Ruby." Winter smiled gratefully and dug into her eggs.

"Yeah, thanks, Red! I would have been here a lot sooner, but _someone _didn't let me get any sleep last night." Nora whimpered at the hostile tone of his voice. Ren and Pyrrha placed their hands on her shoulders to cheer her up.

"Heh, you're welcome guys. I couldn't just let you two starve, and breakfast _is _the most important meal of the day!" They finished their meals and dumped the trash. "Winter, I just remembered, you aren't a student here, what are you going to do while we're in class?" Winter's eyes widened, she hadn't thought about classes.

"Is there any way I could possibly sit in on the lesson?" Blake looked over at them with a small smile.

"Maybe Goodwitch will allow you to, but only if you're very quiet. She's kind of strict about talking during class."

"Did I hear my name?" The whole table straightened out and raised a hand to their heart in salute. Everyone except Winter of course, who was wondering why everyone looked like they were guilty of something. Jaune was sweating nervously, Ruby's eye was twitching, like she was trying to hold in some sort of juicy secret, and Yang looked like she was hyperventilating. In fact, the only ones who weren't freaking out were Weiss and Winter, probably because they both knew they did nothing wrong. Nora looked like she was about to explode, Ren just looked nervously at her, afraid that she _was _going to explode.

"I didn't break anyone's legs, you can't prove that I did!" Nora screamed, running out of the lunchroom as fast as she could, dragging Ren with her. Glynda just sighed.

"I thought she had something to do with that… Anyway, someone mentioned me?" Winter raised her hand. "Yes…? Excuse me, who are you?"

"I'm Weiss' sister, Winter. I'm just visiting for a while, I was wondering, could I perhaps sit in on your class?" Glynda smiled.

"Of course, just promise me you'll be quiet, I already have enough to put up with with these hooligans." She sent a faux glare to Ruby and Jaune. Ruby snickered, and Jaune tried his hardest not to grin.

"Of course, I'm looking forward to it!"

* * *

"Will he be alright?" Winter whispered to Weiss. Jaune had been picked to fight a rather intimidating looking student, said student now holding up her sword in a way that made it seem like she knew what she was doing. She flourished, Jaune gulped. He had never fought anyone that used the same weapon before, and it looked like she knew how to use it. She didn't use a shield though, so she must be using a different technique. He decided to match her, he turned his shield back into its sheath form and clutched his sword with both hands, she smiled at him as if she were impressed.

"Alright, Jaune Arc, are you ready?" He nodded at Glynda, she smiled reassuringly at him. "Violet Primrose, are you ready?" Violet smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Okay, on the count of three… One… Two… Three!" Jaune brought his sword up, Violet rushed at him and clashed her sword with his. She jumped back and Jaune slashed at her, but she was too quick, she dodged the blade. She rushed at him once more, but this time she slashed at his legs, he jumped over her attack and swung at her torso. She parried the attack and hit him with the end of her hilt. He grunted and fell back, he caught his balance and got back into his fighting stance.

"Wow, she's really good!" Exclaimed Ruby!

"Yeah, I've never seen someone move so gracefully with a sword before!" Weiss agreed.

"I wonder if her weapon has any hidden secrets…" Yang said.

"It looks to be just a normal sword, like Jaune's." Pyrrha replied.

"We'll see." Ren added.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Asked Jaune, still recovering from the blow to his chestplate.

"I taught myself!" Violet grunted as she jumped in the air and performed a downward slash. Jaune just barely avoided it by jumping to the side. Jaune took a deep breath, he would have to slow it down in order to win. She was obviously skilled at swordplay, he would have to switch his tactics, be smarter than usual. He remembered Pyrrha's training, her advice on looking for weaknesses. He rushed at her, she tripped him, everyone watching winced as he fell flat on his face. Pyrrha grinned as he kept getting hit. Winter looked over at her suspiciously.

"Why are you so happy? He's getting his butt kicked up there?" Pyrrha looked down at her and giggled.

"That's why." She pointed back up to the stage. Jaune rose up off the floor, Violet smiled slyly and rushed at him recklessly, Jaune took the chance and spun around her as she nearly collided with him. Violet's smile vanished as Jaune shoved his palm into her back, disarming her and making her fall helplessly to the floor. She grunted in surprise as Jaune walked up to her and put his sword to the back of her neck.

"The winner is Jaune Arc!" Glynda announced with a sense of pride in her voice. Jaune sheathed his sword and helped Violet up.

"Good fight, you were amazing! But you get too cocky, and that makes you reckless. I would work on that if I were you." Violet smiled and nodded.

"I will, thank you. That was a good fight, no one has ever beaten me before. You are something else, Jaune Arc."

"Maybe we could train together sometime, it would be nice to train with another person who's well versed in the art of swordsmanship."

"That would be nice, I think I'll take you up on that offer." She winked and walked away. Jaune hummed, and walked back to his friends.

"Oh my gosh, Jaune that was amazing!" Ruby jumped up and hugged him tightly. "Never doubted you, nope, not at all, I believed in you a hundred percent!" Yang pulled her away from him.

"Ruby, you were the one who was betting against him!" Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"You guys were betting on which one of us would win?"

"Yep, and Ruby owes me twenty lien!" Ruby looked away nervously.

"Hehe, yeah about that…" Jaune turned his attention to Winter, who was laughing at Ruby's attempt at explaining to Yang how she couldn't giver her the owed amount. She looked so cute, even cuter than Ruby, and somehow a lot more beautiful than Weiss, which before meeting her seemed impossible. Weiss sighed as he obviously stared at her sister.

"Why won't he stare at me like that anymore?" She whispered to herself.

"I'm sorry Weiss, but you missed your chance." Nora whispered to her with sympathy in her eyes. Of course Nora would hear her.

"Nora… I just can't believe that. I don't want to, especially when it would be my fault." She could feel the tears starting to fall, she needed to be out of there, away from everyone. She silently left while everyone was distracted. "I just can't accept it as the truth, forget my sister, I can think about myself, at least just this once. I deserve to be happy too..." She wiped her eyes and continued to the dorm, Jaune following her silently. She swiped her scroll and threw open the door, she lost control, she broke down. She fell to her knees and cried her eyes out.

"Weiss? Are you okay"

"Jaune!?" She sobbed. "What are you doing here?" She turned to look at him, noticing that he was alone.

"I, uh, I sneaked away from everyone, I noticed you leaving and I just figured that something was up." Weiss choked. He was worried about her? Sure he didn't really say it like that, but she could tell he was.

"Well, something is up. But I don't wanna talk about it." Jaune sat down on the floor and brought her into a gentle hug.

"You don't have to, just let it all out." And she did. Why did he have to be so charming? So freaking lovable? Why did he have to be such an idiot!? He was only making it worse, so much worse. But she was letting him, so she couldn't really blame him. She looked in his eyes, he looked like he was worried about her. She couldn't take that look, she felt like she needed to do something, anything to get him to stop. But what she did, she was sure it would only make the situation worse. She kissed him, deeply and passionately. She didn't exactly know what came over her, it was a moment of weakness, and she hated herself for it. But there was no going back, it had happened, and she enjoyed it. Even when she was pushed on the bed, she enjoyed it. They took it too far, but she enjoyed it.

* * *

Winter could feel the tension between Weiss and Jaune, it was obvious, and though they were trying their hardest to hide it, everyone could see clear as day that there was something going on between them. They weren't talking to each other, they weren't even looking at each other, in fact, they were trying to avoid each other. Ruby and Yang were trying to bring them into their conversations, trying to get them to speak, but every time they got close, one of them would just stop talking altogether. It was starting to tick her off. She couldn't help but feel that this was her fault, and she didn't know just how close she was. She looked over at Weiss, who was sitting silently and staring at her food. Jaune was doing the same. Why were they acting like the world had come to an end, and why were they avoiding each other? Winter excused herself from the table, dragging Weiss along with her. "Weiss, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Winter didn't buy into her false ignorance.

"You know what I mean, why are you avoiding Jaune?" As soon as his name left her lips, Weiss tensed up. "Weiss, please. You promised me."

"What?"

"You promised that there wouldn't be any more secrets between us."

"Winter, that was three years ago."

"So you're saying that promise doesn't mean anything anymore?" Her eyes were pleading Weiss to just come clean, but Weiss didn't know what to say. 'Hey sis, I fucked you crush'? Definitely not. But she had to tell her something, maybe she could tell her the partial truth? That always worked before.

"I'm not saying that, of course it still means something. Alright, I'll tell you, just promise me you won't get mad." Winter smiled and nodded.

"I promise."

"I kissed Jaune." Winter stepped back away from her.

"Oh." Was all that she could say. Weiss regretted telling her, she looked hurt, betrayed.

"I'm sorry, it just happened. I just felt so alone, and he was there for me, and I… I'm sorry." Weiss started crying. Winter embraced her.

"That isn't all that you did with him, is it?" Winter was too smart for her own good, Weiss nodded. "I thought so… Do you love him, sis?" She nodded again. "I see. Alright, well, I knew this would happen. If you love him, you should go get him."

"But you-"

"Only have a crush, Weiss. Now just go, you deserve someone who'll treat you right. Besides. I'm leaving tomorrow, you'll still be here with him." Weiss hugged her tightly and cried into her shoulder.

"Thank you, I love you…"

"I love you too sis..." Winter wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her sweater. After a while the went back into the lunchroom and sat back down at the table. Weiss sat down next to Jaune, surprising everyone at the table, including Jaune himself.

"Can we talk later? In private?" Jaune nodded dumbly.

"Yeah, sure. Meet me on the roof after classes are over." She smiled widely, making sure he knew that it would be a good talk. He smiled back. Ruby sighed in relief, glad that her two closest friends were apparently working out their problems. Winter sighed, as always, her sister got everything. But this time she had no one to blame but herself. She thought it would be different this time around, but Weiss clearly loved him, and how could a crush compare to that?

* * *

Jaune sat on the roof and watched the clouds in the sky, Weiss sat beside him, her head resting on his shoulder. "So, about that talk."

"Is it about… You know...?"

"No, I don't think we really need to talk about that, it was just a spur of the moment thing, right?"

"Well, I'd like to think it meant a little more than that, but yeah, it was." Weiss blushed.

"Of course, it meant a lot more than that, but I wasn't really thinking about it at the time. I was just glad that you were there with me. Y'know? Anyway, I wanted to tell you something, something I should have told you a long time ago. All those times I turned you down? I only did it because I thought you were in it for the thrill. The thrill of chasing after an heiress. But then, you kept trying and trying, and I realized, that you weren't in it for some petty title and a mountain of lien, you were doing it because you were interested in me. Once I realized that, I got scared. Scared of letting you in. You're the only person who has ever managed to break my 'icy exterior'."

"Weiss, I didn't even know who you were when I first saw you, I just thought that you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. But then I got to know you a bit more, I could see through the ice, and what I saw was amazing. I knew that I wanted it for myself, and I know that's selfish, but it's the truth." Weiss smiled warmly. "And, I don't think I've ever felt this way about anyone else. I love you, Weiss!"

"I love you too, Jaune!" Slowly, they closed the gap between them and kissed.

* * *

Weiss woke up, the morning light glistening off of the tears staining her face. It was all a dream, Jaune had never followed her back to the dorm, they never confessed to each other on the roof, and they never kissed. Of course, how silly of her to ever think real life could ever be so cheesy and romantic. Weiss had never felt so alone. She had cried herself to sleep, the first time she had done that in a long time. She sobbed into her pillow. "Weiss? Are you okay?" Ruby leaned over the edge of her bunk, staring down at her.

"Ruby!?" Weiss gasped, looking around to see if the others were in the dorm. They weren't. "Where are Yang and Blake?"

"They're probably sparring, and Winter is with Jaune." Weiss felt like crying again, but she stopped herself. "Now, I'll ask again, are you okay?" Weiss shook her head. Lying wouldn't get her anywhere. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it." There she goes again, not facing her problems, running away from everything, hoping it'll fix itself. "No, you know what, I do want to talk about it."

"Is it about Jaune?" Weiss' jaw dropped.

"How did you-"

"Weiss, you're not very good at hiding it." She didn't think she was, but she certainly thought she hid it well enough, Jaune doesn't ever seem to notice. "You know, Winter's interested in him." Weiss nodded her head slowly. "So, you're conflicted on what to do, right? You can ask him out, and he would jump at the chance to be with you, the person he's tried to get a date with for so long, or you can just let your sister have a chance. But you're not sure if you really want either, because you're scared of letting him in completely, and you're scared of feeling jealous of your sister too." Ruby had hit the nail directly on the head. She was a lot more clever than people gave her credit for. Weiss supposed Ozpin could see that, and that's why he made her the team leader.

"Yeah…"

"Weiss…" Ruby honestly didn't know what to tell her, it was a complicated situation. What was more important to her, her happiness, or the happiness of her sister? "I'm sorry, I may not be able to help, but I'm here if you ever want to talk."

"Thanks Ruby, you really are the best friend I could ever ask for!" Ruby gave her a thumbs up and leaned back into the bed. Weiss smiled as she heard pages turn from up above her. Ruby was doing homework without Weiss asking her to? She really had improved a lot. Weiss got up, deciding to do her homework as well. It wouldn't do to fall behind her leader after all, and maybe it would take her mind off of things for a while.

* * *

"Are you serious? That's incredible." Jaune said. Winter was sitting across from Jaune, sipping a now lukewarm coffee. They had decided to head into town and eat breakfast at a local diner instead of the lunchroom again.

"I swear to dust, apparently it was erected many, many years ago by some ancient now extinct species of humans, they found a little rusty sign at the base that said 'The Tower Of Pimps'. Our scientist came to the conclusion that the people used to worship some ancient deity called Pimps, and used the tower as some sort of shrine. It's all really interesting, don't you think?" Jaune nodded, taking a bite out of his sausage.

"Yeah, and you say they found the remains of this… Ancient city as well?" She nodded. "And what's with this, Edgar you mentioned earlier?"

"Well, apparently, Edgar was the one in the hole."

"So he was a prisoner of some sort?"

"We believe so, yes."

"Wow, these people sound like savages."

"Anyway, thanks for bringing me here. I haven't had a meal like this in a long time. It reminds me of home." Jaune smiled.

"Speaking of home, you're leaving tomorrow night, right?" She nodded sadly.

"Yes, I have too, otherwise I would stay. Oh, that reminds me." She pulled a napkin out of the dispenser and asked the waitress taking their empty plates for a pen, she wrote down her number and gave him the napkin. "That's so we can still talk after I'm gone, could you give it to the others later?"

"Of course!" He put her number in his scroll. "You know, I'm really gonna miss having you around…" She reached out and grabbed his hands.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Jaune. You and Ruby both. But come one, it's not like I'm not gonna visit again! It might not be soon, but I promise I will!" He squeezed her hands.

"You better, or else me and Ruby will come and visit _you_." She giggled, causing his smile to widen. Much like Weiss', her giggles were the sweetest thing he had ever heard, nothing could compare to them. They paid for the food and then left.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: I dedicate this chapter to my friend TheWindWakersDream, because he somehow got me off my ass and got me to write the longest chapter that I've ever written. I did this for you man, I expect hugs dammit, lots and lots of digital hugs.

* * *

Ruby felt like crying, she held onto Winter with all of her strength, not wanting to let her get on the airship. "Ruby, I promise we'll talk like every day!" Winter tried her hardest not to cry, she was leaving behind her best friend, and while only temporary, it still broke her heart. She and Ruby had bonded a lot over her stay at Beacon, they became as close as sisters. As close as she and Weiss once were. A pang of sadness hit her, but she shook free of it's hold and managed a smile. "I'll be back real soon, I promise, maybe I can stay for even longer next time!" Ruby finally let go and smiled back.

"I'll hold you to that!" Winter approached Jaune and gave him a hug as well, only this time she was the one who didn't want to let go. Jaune gave her a few pats on her back. Yang watched the emotional scene, somehow holding back the urge to start a giant group hug.

"I know I've said this a lot, and I know it's probably annoying by now, but I'm really going to miss you a lot, Jaune!" He hugged her tighter, wishing that she didn't have to leave. He had grown rather fond of the younger girl, often times wondering if he was growing _too_ fond of her!

"Don't worry Snow Angel, we'll see each other again! I'll be sure to text you a lot, and maybe I'll even call you sometimes!" Weiss felt her heart break even more, he had just called her baby sister Snow Angel, that was his nickname for her, was he even allowed to do that? She thought back to when he first started calling her that, when they first met, she remembered thinking that her sister deserved it more than her, and here she was getting jealous at the fact he was using it for her. Weiss felt absolutely pathetic, like scum, replaceable trash. Maybe that was all she was to him? No, she knew that wasn't the case but she still couldn't help but feel like it was true.

"You better!" She let go of him and said goodbye to the others, saving Weiss for last. She stood in front of her, staring her in the eyes, and finally, the dam broke and the flood came forth. Winter lunged at Weiss, wrapping her in the tightest hug imaginable and cried into her shoulder. "I love you so much, I'll miss you so much!" And thus Weiss also began to cry. The two sisters clung to each other tightly, and in their embrace released all of their feelings. Ruby looked over at Yang, wanting nothing more than to hug her as Weiss was hugging her sister. Yang was way ahead of her, she scooped Ruby up in her arms as tightly as she could. If Ruby wasn't so used to it, she would have cried out in agony! Ren and Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha, even Blake was pulled into Ruby and Yang's hug, no one went hug-less! Weiss and Winter separated, and upon seeing what their emotional outbreak had caused, giggled like children. They wiped their eyes and smiled, they had really needed that. Winter said goodbye one last time, and stepped onto the airship. As it ascended she waved goodbye, everyone waved back.

* * *

After winter left, Weiss decided to take a walk to clear her mind. What had happened before she left was amazing, she had never felt so close with her before. And the fact that they could bring all of their friends so close was great as well. She sighed as it started to sprinkle, unlike her sister she was rather indifferent about rainy days, she didn't like them nor did she hate them, they were just something that happened. Like everything else in her life. She had never planned to be a huntress, it was just something that happened. She had never planned on falling in love with Jaune, it just happened. She never planned… Anything really, she just went with the flow, and sometimes that was a really bad thing to do.

The sun had set hours ago, and the path she walked was lit only by the semi-bright electric lamp posts that Beacon had scattered around for it's more nocturnal students, it was times like this when Weiss was thankful the school didn't have curfew. She enjoyed the fresh air and the cool light rain, she knew she didn't have to worry about getting soaking wet as there were hardly any clouds in the sky. She also wouldn't have to worry about running into any students, most everyone who went to Beacon had early morning classes and had to be in bed at a specific time. Weiss didn't need much sleep, she was hardly tired, and less than eight hours would do nothing to her. She had gotten less sleep than that before. There was a time during her earlier teenage years where she would stay up all night doing things that were farm more favorable than sleeping, but those days were far behind her, she simply couldn't lose any sleep, but tonight she would make an exception, if just for a few hours, for tonight she was sentimental and she felt like doing something she hadn't done in a long time: stargazing.

Once she found a suitable spot under a tree where there was dry grass, she laid against the trunk. Gazing up at the sky, she sighed, feeling lonely and wishing that a certain someone was there with her. "Weiss?" Speak of the devil. She turned her head to Jaune as he sat down next to her. "I didn't know you liked stargazing." She turned her attention back to the stars, smiling softly.

"Yeah, I used to do it a lot when I was younger, Winter would always lay beside me snuggled up in her favorite blanket. Y'know, things were a lot more simple back when we were all kids, I think we sometimes took that simplicity for granted."

"Do you mean you and Winter, or just everyone in general?"

"Both. We all had this romanticized version of how life would turn out, I thought I would grow up and meet some handsome knight who would sweep me off my feet, and I thought I would grow old with him and turn my father's company around, you know, do some good, help the faunus. Though that last part kind of diminished over the years, until now at least. I think my father somehow managed to get it into my head that the faunus were nasty, despicable freaks. I can't believe I actually thought that, especially now that one of my best friends is a faunus and I can see how much pain they have to go through just to be recognized as living beings. It sickens me, Jaune. I may not have met that handsome knight, and I may never, but I promise I will turn the company around, I know I can do that, regardless of how my future turns out." She was lying, she had met that handsome knight, and he was sitting right beside her, she wished she could tell him that, he would gladly sweep her off of her feet and carry her away in the moonlight. Into a wonderful future filled with romance and adventure, just like she had always wanted as a kid. "What about you? How did you imagine your life turning out?"

"Much like you, I thought I would meet someone. Growing up with seven sisters, I was always around things people would consider feminine, romance novels, romantic comedies, you know, stuff like that. I always imagined this girl, she was pretty, had the most beautiful eyes, and was the most cliche type of person you could ever think of. I always imagined myself finding her, falling in love and just starting a family or something. But then as I grew older, I learned of my families past, our history. I learned that we were a legendary clan of hunters that was sung about in old legends and talked about in old fairy tales, and I just felt a fire ignite somewhere deep down, I just knew that from that moment on, I wanted to be a hero. Someone who could protect the innocent and his loved ones, and someone who never gave up even during the toughest of situations! I didn't just want to be _a _hero, I wanted to be _the _hero! But as I grew older I realized that wasn't gonna happen. Five years later, here I am, a hunter in training. Even though I didn't _earn _my place here at Beacon, I know that I can make a difference, with the help of all of you girls that is, oh, and Ren. But mostly you girls." Weiss and Jaune both sat in silence a while after that, both satisfied with the conversation they just had. As time went on, Weiss leaned sideways, bit by bit until she was resting her head on his shoulder. They watched the stars for another hour, before Jaune's watch started going off. "It's eleven, I should be in bed, I'm sorry Weiss, I gotta go." As he got up, he felt her tug at his arm.

"Wait, carry me back, please?" He helped her up.

"Sure, come on!" He lifted her up and held her close to his chest, she leaned her ear against him and listened to his heartbeat as he walked. The silence was comfortable, though she entertained the thought of having some type of sappy music playing in the background. If this were a movie, there would totally be a piano piece playing. She giggled into him, causing him to smile at her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just this whole situation… It just seems so, surreal. But I'm happy!" When he thought about it, it really did, but that was life, always throwing you twists and turns. You never know what exactly is gonna happen.

"Yeah, I suppose it does. I'm happy too." As he approached the two dorms he set her down gently, she still clung to him as she steadied herself. They both turned to enter their dorms, but something didn't feel right, just leaving right then and there not saying goodnight. She knew what she should do, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She sighed internally and swiped her scroll, as she tried to enter, she was stopped by Jaune's voice. "Weiss, about what you said, about that handsome knight? Maybe, he could be closer than you think. Maybe if you would just open up a bit more… Maybe then he would show up." She turned to him and nodded.

"Yeah…" Jaune turned back to face the door. "Hey, Jaune?" He didn't turn around. "Thank you." He heard the door shut behind him, he sighed and banged his head on the door.

"I'm such a coward…" He said sadly.

I'm such a coward!" She hissed angrily at herself. Why didn't she just kiss him? This whole thing could have been over with, she could have had him! What was holding her back?

* * *

Winter rested her head against the window, watching the land move below her. It always amazed her how technologically advanced the human and faunus races were, they achieved flight, but they just couldn't stop fighting. The whole thing was stupid and she just wished it would be over. She loved her father, but sometimes she couldn't stand him and his problematic ideals. She hated the fact that her father was basically a slave driver, and that bad rep carried over in the Schnee name, Weiss and Winter were constantly attacked and publicly criticized even when they bravely admitted to the public that they didn't agree with their father's views and opinions, though to be fair, Weiss' was a lot more vague, as she was going through somewhat of a rebellious streak at the time and snapped back at the faunus for calling out their father, possibly to try and gain favor in his eyes. But Winter was clear with her message, she liked the faunus and promised that if she inherited the company, all faunus working under her would receive equal pay and the same medical benefits as the human employees, yet still they found a reason to hate her. And having to deal with all of that at such a young age? That's the reason she became so isolated from the world. Kids weren't meant to make adult choices, they weren't meant to be so serious, yet they were forced to in the name of politics, and rather than take her fathers side like Weiss, she had done what she considered was right and took up the faunus' side, the ones who were actually being victimized and not the ones who were complaining about being victimized despite not actually being so. Yet still, her father viewed her as his precious little baby, and that angered Weiss. It always came back full circle, their problems always go back to one person, their father.

Winter stumbled sleepily out of the airship and onto the snowy grounds of Schnee Manor, she remembered that the place used to be so beautiful until they moved the factories in. She walked up to the huge double doors and pulled the heavy knocker up and letting it fall down with a thunderous bang! The doors clicked unlocked and were opened one of the faunus servants. "Oh, Miss Schnee, back already?" A friendly wolf faunus asked, his ears twitching and his tail wagging happily.

"Yes, Jake, and before you ask, I can get the luggage, I just need to rest a moment. You know how flying makes me tired." Jake sighed and ushered Winter in, laying her down on one of the overly comfortable couches in the foyer.

"No need Miss Schnee, you're exhausted, and besides, you always do everything for yourself, it's our job to help you, so please let us." He snapped his fingers and two other faunus butlers appeared instantly. "We need to get Miss Schnee's luggage in, pronto." They saluted him and rushed out to the air ship.

"Thank you, Jake. Oh, and how many times have I told you, just call me Winter."

"Right Miss- er, Winter." She gave him a grateful smile. "Should there be anything else you need, you need only snap." Jake walked off, leaving her alone in the large foyer. She shivered as she looked around the familiar space, it was really wide open and it gave Winter the creeps. She never really liked open spaces much. She missed the simple design of the Beacon dorms already. Her scroll went off and vibrated, she had gotten a message. And another. And another. And another! Suddenly, it went off three more times in quick succession! Seven messages, from all of her friends! She smiled widely when she realized that she actually had people to talk to, and that she wouldn't be quite so lonely anymore! Her smile faltered as she realized that it was only seven, no eighth message came. Oh well, she was expecting a letter by the time the week was done! She checked all of the messages to find they were all saying goodnight to her, and that they would talk to her tomorrow. She replied to all of them with a goodnight message and made her way to her bedroom, eager to get some shuteye.

* * *

**The next morning.  
**

Winter's eyes fluttered open and she was greeted to the familiar sight of her room, various books lay scattered about and surreal looking canvas prints she had painted lined the walls. It honestly looked like something out of a fever dream, but it was her space, and she was thankful for it's existence. She stretched and got out of bed, making her way to her private bathroom. She was spoiled, that much was obvious, her time at Beacon had taught her a lot about having to wait to use the restroom. And while she was glad she would no longer have to do so, it was still a breath of fresh air. She stepped into the unnaturally large space and sighed, remembering why she preferred small spaces over larger ones. She was lonely, so dreadfully lonely, and there was nothing she could do about it, living in the mountains was like a curse. Sure some normal people would prefer a huge bathroom, with a bathtub that has water jets, and waterproof TV's that hang above them, but she didn't. She had grown up with it yes, but she had never wanted it.

She sighed and removed her clothing, stepping into the tub and turning the hot water all the way to high, and the cold water halfway. It was the perfect temperature, enough to make the water steamy but not burning hot. She stared up at the ceiling lost in thought as she relaxed in the water, her thoughts turning to her new friends and more particularly, Jaune Arc. Ruby and him had become her closest friends, and she missed them dearly. It hadn't even been twenty four hours since she left Beacon, but she did. She looked over to the wide, white marble counter top of the tub, noticing that her scroll's light was lit up red, that could only mean she had received a message. Surprised, she reached over and picked it up. She nearly screamed as she saw who had texted her. "Sis!?"

_Big Sis: Hey sis, I know I usually write you letters, but Ruby somehow convinced me that this was easier, and I know it is, but I just feel… Silly, I guess. I just love to write letters, and it lets me practice my calligraphy as well, but I know you prefer this, so we'll just text from now on. I probably won't answer back as often as you'd like, I mean, I still have to focus on my training and studying, but hopefully the others will keep you entertained until I do. They don't really care about their grades as much as I do apparently, because they're always doing something on their scrolls during class. Anyway, you probably won't read this until morning, but I love you, and I hope you can come and visit again soon!_

Winter was absolutely ecstatic, her sister had actually texted her? And they were going to text from now on? No more letters!? She nearly stood up and jumped for joy, but upon remembering that it would not be safe to do so, instead settled on raising her hands in the air and doing a little celebration dance. It seemed that Weiss was actually making an effort to fix things as well, and that made her extremely happy! Her scroll vibrated and she nearly dropped it in the water, after having about five heart attacks, she finally caught it firmly in her hand and laid back against the edge of the tub. Ruby had sent her a message, as well as Jaune, both of them telling her good morning. She had nearly ruined the one thing that was keeping her in touch with everyone, she realized that she needed to be way more careful with her scroll than usual!

She replied to Weiss, and sent a good morning message back to Ruby and Jaune. She sat her scroll back down and covered it with about ten dry washcloths, making sure that it was protected fully from water damage.

* * *

Jaune's leg wouldn't stop moving, and that meant two things, one, he was hyped up on sugar that Ruby had given him, or he was thinking about something. And judging from the fact that Ruby wasn't currently bouncing off the walls, Nora was sure it was the latter. "Hey Jaune, whatcha thinkin' about?"

"You remember last night, when I told you all about my situation?" Nora's face lit up in understanding.

"You mean with Weiss, and Winter?" He nodded. Nora's face fell, she really felt sorry for him, she was lucky enough to avoid all the unnecessary drama that love brings. Though she wished Ren would realize how she felt, she hinted at it enough, he was just too damn dense, but she didn't mind, at least she still got to be around him. But Jaune… That was a different story altogether, she had a feeling he would need her help. She peered over him towards team RWBY, who were currently all trying to keep their boredom at bay. Yang was teasing Blake about something, Weiss was actually paying attention, and Ruby was staring at her scroll, waiting for something. From what he had told them the other night before bed, it was also obvious that Weiss felt the same for him as he did for her.

His scroll vibrated, and he pulled it out secretly, opening it up and typing something in. "Hey, are you and Ruby talking with Winter?" Jaune looked up at her, and then to Ruby.

"Yeah, we've been talking all day, and I'm really happy about that, it keeps my mind off of everything."

"Does your scroll always go off before Ruby's?" Jaune thought about it, it was true, she seemed to reply to him first if she could help it.

"Yeah, why?" Nora felt proud of her friend, he had somehow gotten two beautiful girls to fall in love with him, and he didn't even know it.

"Jaune, you big idiot, I'm only telling you this because you seriously need my help, they both like you back! Winter's always replying to you before anyone else, and Weiss… Well that one's kind of obvious, I'm not surprised that you actually figured that one out for yourself. I mean, she _did _ask you to carry her back to the dorms. If that doesn't scream I'm hopelessly in love with you, then I don't know what does."

"How the hell did I manage that?" He didn't even sound shocked, just incredibly terrified. Nora supposed that was a better reaction than any other, she would more than likely be scared if she was in his shoes. She was however, going through the same exact thing as Weiss, and Winter. She looked over at Ren, smiling sadly. "Don't worry, Nora. It'll happen one day, I'm sure of it!"

"Thanks Jaune, I know it will, I'm just getting impatient. A girl can only wait so long, and I've already been waiting for a long time." Pyrrha placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic look.

"Sorry Jaune, but I couldn't help but hear your conversation with Nora, I was just wondering… Do you know who you're going to pick?" Jaune looked over to Weiss and Ruby, he sighed and sat his head down against the desk.

"Of course not, how could I ever choose? I don't want to hurt any of them, but it looks like that's what's going to have to happen." Pyrrha pat him on the back.

"Well, whoever you choose, or whatever happens, we'll be there with you every step of the way, right Nora?"

"Yeppers!"

"Thanks girls… You're the best!" They focused back on the things they were doing before, Nora thinking about Ren, Pyrrha texting Winter as well, and Jaune of course went back to thinking about his problems. He thought of what life might be like if he chose Weiss. His life would take a drastic turn if he chose her, and probably not for the better. The fact that she was an heiress meant that if they married, he received a lot of those benefits, and he never really thought of living life in luxury, and he wasn't so sure he wanted to.

If he chose Winter, so much would be on the line. Weiss would probably stop talking to him, and they would have to put up with a semi-long distance relationship. Not to mention those benefits of marrying into a rich family, which again, he wasn't so sure he wanted in the first place.

He knew that he had to make a decision like this with his heart, not his brain. When you enter into a relationship with someone, it's not about doing what's wisest, it's about doing what makes you feel good, for better or for worse. Even he knew that. He sighed and slammed his head against the table, making his team jump in surprise. "It's gonna be a long week."


	5. Chapter 5

**Three Months Ago**

Weiss tensed up, as Jaune sat beside her underneath the shade of the tree protecting her from the summer sun's harmful rays. "What do you want, you blonde dunce," she asked angrily, her mood seemingly ruined by his mere presence. He looked on at the students milling about in their colorful clothing, frowning softly as he felt Weiss glaring holes into his skull. He looked at her with sad eyes, she recoiled and looked away from him.

"I don't want anything, Weiss. I'm done." She turned back to him with a surprised look, scoffing at his words. Her eyes softened when he didn't say anything in reply.

"You're being serious." He nodded his head and stood up, she reached for his arm, grabbing a hold of his wrist and pulling him back down. "Sit." He did. Weiss let go of his wrist and sat back against the trunk of the tree once again, finding the peace she had before he sat down next to her. "I thought you had said you would never give up, Ruby said you told her that you would never let go, and Yang honestly believed that you would always be around just to annoy me forever. So, what changed," she asked, honestly confused by the whole situation. It was so sudden, and it honestly seemed so surreal.

"I don't know, I guess I just kind of realized that it wasn't meant to be, that it just wasn't going to happen no matter how hard I tried. I realized that you don't have any interest in me, and that I should accept it. But I also want to say something… If you would allow me to say it." Weiss nodded slowly. "I really am interested in you, Weiss, not your name, or your money. I know there's something more, deep down underneath all those walls you've built up. And even if you won't let me break those walls down as something more, I hope that you'll at least let me try as a friend."

Her eyes were wide, never before had she heard Jaune speak so seriously about anything. "Why do you even care?" He smiled awkwardly.

"Because I have a sister who's exactly like you. She also won't let anyone in, but she's really the sweetest, kindest, most amazing girl in the world. And most people don't know that, they just assume she's quiet and doesn't like people. I know there's someone really worth knowing in there, Weiss, and I would love nothing more than to get to know her." Weiss seemed fight back a smile.

"W-whatever, you can sit next to me if you want. Maybe I'll let you talk to me too." Jaune wanted to cheer in victory, but he held himself back. The two of them went back to silence, and the peace Weiss felt before he had sat down next to her returned. "So… What's the deal with Nora? It's been about two months, and I still haven't figured that girl out."

"The one time you actually talk to me, and you ask the one question that's actually impossible to answer?" She let out a quick laugh, making Jaune laugh as well. "But yeah, I don't think anyone could figure Nora out, it just isn't happening."

"You're telling me, I thought, if anyone could do it it would be Blake, but whenever Nora's around her she gets a headache. I think she tries a bit too hard. I feel bad for Blake, honestly, being partners with Yang, and having her somewhat annoying little sister on the same team."

"Oh, Ruby isn't so bad."

"True, I have grown more attached to her lately, she reminds me of my sister. And sometimes I just can't help but think that she's just as adorable."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, her name is Winter. She's a lot like Ruby, in a lot of ways, I think the two of them would be really good friends." Jaune laughed at the thought of two Ruby's running around. "Of course, I wouldn't want to be near them when they're in the same room together… Especially if there's sugar involved." Jaune shivered.

"That would just be a nightmare, one Ruby hyped up on sugar is enough." Weiss nodded in agreement. "I do have to say though, Ruby is always surprising me. She's very smart for someone her age, and she such a great leader. I look up to her a lot, actually."

"Me too. If you tell her I said that I'll steal her cookies and plant them in your dorm, understand?" Jaune gulped and nodded fearfully. "Good. But anyway, yeah, I didn't really like Ruby at first, but she has grown on me. Once you get over the shock of how affectionate she is, she's a really great friend."

"Affectionate is right, I still have flashbacks from that time she kissed me on the cheek for the first time. Yang couldn't stop laughing." He grumbled as Weiss giggled.

"In her defense, your face was extremely red. It was actually really funny! And yeah, he affection can go a little overboard now and then, cheek kisses are a regular thing in our dorm you know."

"Really?"

"Yeah, among other things. Ruby usually sleeps with one of us, she has nightmares if she sleeps alone. Yang says it has something to do with a childhood fear or something, losing someone close to her I think."

"That started out adorable, and then it just got sad."

"Yeah, well, that's life for you." The conversation quieted down as the courtyard cleared of students, they sat in silence for a while more. "You know Jaune, I actually really enjoyed talking with you. Thank you."

"No problem. I enjoyed it too! I should probably go, Nora needs at least three people to stop her from destroying everything, two people can only hold her back for so long."

"I'll come with you, I need to get back to my dorm as well, I need to convince Ruby to study or she'll never get good grades." They walked back together, content at the fact they had made a new friend. 'Maybe Ruby was right, Jaune's not such a bad guy after all.'

* * *

**Present Day**

To Jaune, that was the moment when everything made perfect sense, he had finally managed to start a friendship with Weiss, he had managed to chip away a bit of the wall that surrounded her that day. An accomplishment he didn't take lightly, and one that he had thought was his greatest achievement in life. It had been so easy, he realized then that his problem wasn't his 'confidence' or his average looks, but the fact that he wasn't himself. He brought up a persona when he would flirt with women, and that would always be his downfall. Well, that and the actual flirting.

He sighed and rolled over on his bed, looking sadly across the room to his friends who all seemed to sleep peacefully. He was envious of them, they didn't have to deal with petty things such as love. Well, Pyrrha didn't, there was still the problem with Ren being too hard-headed to see that Nora loves him. He had a feeling that he would have to help her out once all his troubles were dealt with. Once he was, hopefully anyway, happy and content, he could help her feel the same. Help both her and Ren feel the same. After all, they were really good friends to him over the months he's spent at Beacon, and they've both helped shape him into who he was.

He turned over to face the wall once again, a frown present on his face. Who was he? He was just some guy. How could he of all people get two girls to 'fall in love' with him, as Nora had put it. He knew that in reality, it was pretty much just a crush for Winter, but Weiss was different. They've been friends for a while up the present moment, and what happened that night… The way she felt in his arms. Would Winter feel the same way? He was happy they had that moment, of course, but in reality it did nothing for them but strengthen the bonds they shared. Which even with the months of friendship, were pretty much paper thin. Their friendship consisted of small talks and walks, and occasionally hanging out with Ruby, which Weiss almost never wanted to admit to having fun doing.

Whenever he thought about Weiss, his heart would race and his stomach would drop. But in the good way. Whenever he thought of Winter, it was much the same, and that was what concerned him. He had a crush on Winter, that much was obvious to him, he liked cute, quirky girls. And while no one would really describe Winter as Quirky, she shared so much in common with Ruby that it was hard not to. Once upon a time, he had a crush on Ruby, it was small but it was there. Over time she had became much like a little sister to him, and he knew that for sure, having seven sisters and all that. He had gained a crush on Winter for the same reasons. Her personality was charming, she was adorable, and she just seemed like the kind of person you would want to hang out with for hours on end and not get bored of it.

So then, why whenever he thought of Weiss, did it feel the same? Had his feelings for Weiss always been this shallow? He couldn't remember the foundation from which his crush on her was built, it was so instantaneous. So fake. No wonder Weiss just ignored him, she could tell that it wasn't real, she had experience in dealing with fake relationships after all. But it couldn't be denied that there was something there now, she had some semblance of feelings for him, and he as well had feelings for her. It was just whether or not these feelings were real that was getting to him, because he knew that there was a chance that they couldn't be. He had to make a decision, he had to come to a conclusion that would make him happy, he couldn't afford to do this for anyone other than himself. And even though it went against everything he stood for, he understood it was necessary to be happy.

Since he apparently felt the same for Winter as he did for Weiss, he would test the waters. He would go to Winter, he would visit her, wherever she lived, and he would see exactly how it felt to spend some quality time alone with her. The most important time you could spend with anyone. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing and trying his hardest to let sleep take him.

On the other side of the room, Nora squirmed alone in her own bed, sleeping in it for what felt like the first time since she arrived at Beacon. Nora was so excited to come to Beacon because she told herself she could really do something with her life, really make a difference, help people. Her childhood was rather rough, up until she had met Ren. The quirky girl quickly grew attached to the quiet boy, much to his dismay. Of course, any and all ill feelings were quickly thrown out the window as he too grew attached to her. They were like family, together through thick and thin, good and bad. But lately, at least for the past three years, it's been different. At least for her.

She fell in love. And really, that's all that needs to be said, love. Just thinking of the word causes her stomach to flip, she couldn't, and to an extent, still can't believe that it was Ren who had won her heart so long ago. She always saw him as an older brother, someone who stopped her from getting into trouble she would regret, someone who took care of those poor bullies for her so they wouldn't get their knee caps crushed with a comically large hammer ripped from a 'Whack 'a' Grimm' arcade machine that mysteriously turned up destroyed one summer. But now Ren was the only one for her, or at least, the only one she could see herself being with. Their personalities may not be such a perfect match, but hey that's life. And it is pretty funny watching his face drop whenever he realizes that he's going to be dragged into whatever random, crazy scheme Nora cooked up seemingly overnight.

She yawned and looked over to Ren as he slept with a smile on his face. That smile, that brilliant, peaceful, cute, lovely smile that made her heart melt so easily. Just seeing him look so happy made her heart race, but it also hurt because she realized that he never smiles when she sleeps with him. She gets that the beds are actually pretty cramped with two people on them, despite looking perfectly big enough for two, but seriously, was it so hard to just be happy that you're sleeping next to someone you care about? Does he even care about her like that? He must care, but does he care like she cares? That's the question she always asks herself, and the answer she always gets is: Just ask him. But she could never do that, that there was even a chance at making him uncomfortable, or even endangering the relationship they have now was an unbearable thought for her. She would just have to hold herself back and keep doing what she always did. Hoping that he realizes her feelings for him on his own, and say boop. Boop, boop, boop. Gosh, what an amazing thing to say. It means so much, but says so little. She's a genius.

Nora giggled to herself as she remembered Ren's face whenever she first booped him, a cross between surprise, shock, happiness, and apprehension. All of them pretty much the right thing to feel upon being booped for the first time, but after a while it pretty much changed into pure, unadulterated happiness and joy. She could honestly go all night with thinking about the joys of booping, and getting booped, and the various meanings behind the different boops you could boop. But she was too tired to do that, so she rolled over to face him and whispered "boop," mostly to herself, but also in the hopes that Ren would hear it. She fell asleep with a smile on her face as she thought about the one who made her feel complete.

* * *

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief as she yawned, stretching her body and hearing her bones crack. That was the one downside to being a huntress, you may be fit, but your bones will ache no matter what. Not even Yang's aloe-vera rub helps. She sent a glare to the bedside table on which the bottle of the rub sat, hobbling into the bathroom and starting her morning routine of being the last one up. Honestly, she felt lazier than Yang, or Blake when she was wrapped in a warm blanket. But a girl like her needs her beauty sleep, and the best part about waking up late was that no one was using the bathroom. She took her shower, dried her hair, brushed it to perfection, did it up, put on her clothes, applied make-up… Honestly, the things she did to look the best she could. There really wasn't any reason for her be doing this stuff, it wasn't like she was trying to impress anyone, and the only boy she'd want to impress didn't care about looks. No matter how totally amazing she looked, it really wasn't going to anything but make it obvious how desperate she was.

As she finished putting on the last bit of make-up, a knock on the door startled her. "I'll get it," called Ruby. She sighed and put her make-up away, looking in the mirror and smiling a practiced, fake smile. She smirked sincerely at how amazing she looked, or at least how amazing she thought she looked. She honestly didn't care about anyone's opinion but her own, and her opinion was that she looked beautiful. "Oh, hey Jaune, what's up?" Weiss' face lit up at the mention of his name, she rushed out of the bathroom to see Yang and Blake giving her knowing smirks.

"Oh, Weiss, there you are! I need to talk to you!" Ruby stepped aside to let him in, Yang's smirk grew and Blake just went back to reading her book, appearing to be uninterested in the events taking place, though if anyone were paying attention they would see her bow twitch in feverish anticipation. "Privately." He coughed out. Yang let out a noise of disappointment, Blake held in a sigh, and Ruby just went back to her bed to continue studying.

"Of course." Weiss led him into the hall, closing the door softly behind her. She looked up at his face eagerly awaiting his words. "So what is it you needed?" She asked, holding her breath.

_'Sorry for this Weiss...'_ He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well, I was wondering if you knew a way I could perhaps visit Winter." Weiss' shoulders sagged at her sister's name and 'visit' being used in the same sentence. The disappointment was clear on her face, and Jaune felt an overwhelming amount of guilt.

"O-oh. Of course I can, it might take a while though. When are you wanting to go?"

"In three days, I have a couple of things I need to do before then."

"Alright…"

"Thanks, Weiss. You're really doing me a huge favor, I won't forget this!" She felt the familiar tingling in her stomach at the way he smiled at her. His awkward grin bringing a genuine one to her lips.

"What are friends for." Jaune walked off happily, she finally peeled off her mask, her happy facade crumbling to dust as it were the most frail thing in the world. She turned around and opened the door, feeling resistance as she did so. "Of course…" She murmured. "How did I know you three were listening in on that?" She smiled faintly as Ruby, Yang, and Blake all tumbled backwards.

They all rushed to stand back up and crowded Weiss, Ruby and Yang placed their hands on both of her shoulders while Blake patted her stiffly. "I am so sorry, Weiss." Yang was the first to speak. "I really thought…"

"Yeah, it did seem like he was gravitating towards you, I mean, he carried you back to the dorms. That was so romantic!" Ruby sighed dreamily. Blake only continued to pat her back, her silence only serving to make things even more unnecessarily uncomfortable for everyone.

"It's fine, girls. Really. Jaune's a good friend, if anyone goes after my sister, I'm glad it's him." Ruby and Yang looked at each other with worry, Weiss sounded off. Like she was about to shut down, like she just didn't care any more. "If I can't have him," she started dejectedly, "then I'll make sure my sister gets the happiness she deserves." Yang saw a twinkle in her eye, and knew immediately what it meant. She was happy that at least her sister would get to be happy.

* * *

"Nora, I need your help!" Jaune shouted, barging into the dorm. Nora sprung to her feet, saluting him with a fierce look of dedication.

"Yes, sir!"

"Do you think you can cover for me while I'm away for a week?"

"Do sloths sing Christmas carols?" He looked over at Ren, who offered a shrug in return. "Of course I can cover for you! But I'm gonna need some stuff" Jaune nodded.

"Of course, whatever you need!"

"Alright, I'll need a couple of watermelons, some peanut butter, a bunch of fluffy pillows, some of your clothes, that really cute bra I saw the last time we went to the store, and also a sandwich."

"Alright, all of that is yours. I'm guessing the bra is payment… And the sandwich?" Her stomach growled, she looked at him and smiled sheepishly.

"I'm hungry." She shrugged.

* * *

Author's Notes: Whew, finally here... Finally figured out an end to this madness! Re-reading this has taught me a lot of things, mostly how this story feels like a rushed mess and that there is absolutely nothing I can do to save it besides give you all an ending... I am definitely re-writing this thing at a later time, once I finish up my other stories... And maybe play around with a few other ideas... P.S. I know you're reading this, I'll have it done soon, love, I promise! Boop~


	6. Chapter 6

So many factors go into making things happen, each individual action only sparks a tiny event in the grand scheme of life, this Weiss wholly believed. So many variables, so many possible outcomes, and honestly, if she really thought about it, she didn't see a future with Jaune. She didn't see a future with anyone, in fact. If you asked Weiss if she was in love with Jaune Arc, she would answer back almost instantly, with a very certain 'yes!' She was so sure of her feelings, and she felt that truly her happiness lied within his arms, and with him in hers.

But life hardly ever turns out like you want it to, and no one knows that better than Weiss, who was forced into a life she had never wanted. The life of a celebrity, the life of an heiress. One filled with gossip, and arranged dates to create a fake love between two kids who don't want it. She had managed to worm her way into Beacon through sheer willpower and determination, through years of rigorous training to be the most elegant, graceful, powerful, knowledgeable huntress she could possibly be.

And her father could do nothing but watch as she was happily accepted into Beacon with open arms, away from the life she was doomed to live, and into the life she had forged her own path towards. One she wanted more than anything. Yes, Weiss Schnee was finally happy, surrounded by friends, and colleagues whose skill matched her own. But despite how happy she was, she was on a slow incline, and there was nothing she could grab a hold of, and it was far too steep to climb back up. All she could do was sit back and wait, as she inevitably reached the end; solid ground, rock bottom.

Jaune held the key to her true redemption, and it seemed like he was going to give it away to her sister instead. Although, the only way to truly know what's going to happen, is to wait for it to happen. And Weiss liked to believe she was patient enough to do that, to wait for some kind of answer to all her problems. To wait for her true happiness.

Weiss sighed as she stared up at the bottom of Ruby's bunk, completely, and utterly drained. Both emotionally, and mentally. Her heart was barely sewn on well as it was, and Jaune threatened to tear out the threads even more without realizing it. As cliche as that sounds, Weiss really felt it. She had never understood the meaning of those sad songs they play on the radio, with the same old recycled lyrics, and cliche, trite phrases repeatedly sung over and over to make the song seem more filling than it actually was. But now she had a pretty good understanding.

She wished she didn't. As she fully gained awareness of reality, she looked out the window to see the glorious dawn, ending the beautiful night. With naught but a gentle kiss, the sun and moon traded places with each other, making all who basked in its glory jealous of the power it held over the land and all its inhabitants. it was far too early for her, and yet, she didn't feel as if she could get back to sleep again, so she she shook her head and hopped out of bed. She changed out of her night clothes and into something more appropriate to be seen in, though nothing fancy and over the top as she usually wore.

She stepped out into the hallway, wearing nothing but a pair of Yang's sleeping shorts, the strings tied tightly around her dainty waist to stop them from falling off, and an oversized shirt that Ruby had let her borrow for when she wanted to just relax in the dorm room. The cool air of the dorms brushed against her skin, making her shiver and wrap her arms around her chest. She yawned and made her way to the lounge, almost on autopilot. Her messy hair fell free as she walked wearily over to the coffee maker, letting her hands do the work while her brain wandered.

Coffee. Coffee was something that she was thankful for. People are always surprised to find that she likes it black, no sugar, no cream. Just black, like an empty void. As depressing as that sounds, she actually enjoyed the bitter taste. Winter had always joked about it in the mornings when she would actually wake up with her. 'Drink enough of that stuff, and you'll become bitter yourself,' she always sang. Weiss had never realized just how true that was. Though really it was more than likely all the building pressure, the years of hard discipline and training, and not the coffee, it was funny to think. Coincidences and whatnot.

As she turned the coffee maker on, she took a seat at one of the many empty tables, just now realizing that she was the only one even in the lounge in the first place. Usually it was packed, students all rushing to get their morning fix of caffeine so they could get up and around, and get the extra boost needed to finish their assignments. But it was early in the morning, no one would be up for another few hours at least. Weiss thought that maybe she would take the day off, she had perfect grades, and extra credit, she could afford to miss a day's worth of classes. She could always work extra too.

She could hear the faint sounds of footsteps echoing through the silence, and she turned her head to find Nora walking extremely slowly into the lounge with a frown on her face. Weiss knew that something was wrong. Nora was a walking pile of energy, and to her knowledge, had never been tired in her entire life. She chalked that up to her ADHD. Did ADHD make it harder to sleep? She didn't know. She would have to look it up later. Another thing added to the list of things to study up on. Not that it would be very useful information.

Nora walked up to the second coffee maker, and stared at it perplexedly. Weiss held in a giggle as she shook her head and began pressing buttons. "Nora? Do you need help?" Nora jumped and let out a faint 'eep', as she turned quickly.

"Oh, Weiss, I didn't realize anyone was in here." She calmed herself and pointed to the machine that was apparently too complex for her to figure out. "Do you know how to…" Weiss stood up and proceeded to show her how to work it. "Oh, thanks Weiss. I've never really had coffee too often before. Never needed it." Weiss nodded.

"You're welcome, Nora." Weiss replied nonchalantly, walking over to her now done mug of blistering blackness, she picked it up and went back to sitting at the table as the silence regained its position of authority. Nora sat down opposite of Weiss and rested her head in her hands. "So…" Weiss started awkwardly, not used to interacting with the girl. "What are you doing up so early?" She asked, hopeful that it would start some kind of conversation.

"Couldn't sleep, for the first time in a long time. You know I used to have a lot more trouble as a kid, my ADHD made it difficult. You know that I have that, right?" Weiss nodded again. "Well, it's not easy dealing with it sometimes. Right now is one of the few times I've ever felt so lethargic." Weiss blinked in confusion. Was Nora actually holding an intelligent conversation? "When I was a kid it was, obviously, much worse. I've always had Ren to help me calm down and focus, but it's still hard." Nora went to check on her coffee, coming back with a small smile as she held the mug in her hands carefully. "I probably shouldn't have this, it's bad for me. But I could honestly care less right now."

Weiss understood that feeling. It was self destructive, and it was surprising that Nora of all people felt it. She usually seemed to be so happy, and she appeared to take good care of herself. Weiss just looked down at the table, unsure of how to respond. Thankfully, Nora continued with her talking. "Ren always says, no sugar, no caffeine. You really should eat less junk food Nora. He cares about me a lot, and he makes sure I take care of myself. Something I don't have the ability to do myself. If he could see me right now, he'd probably be concerned for me, I should be concerned, I haven't crashed like this in a long time, but for some reason I just really don't care. Like, at all. It's scaring me, if I'm going to be completely honest." Nora took a small sip of her coffee, cringing at the bitterness of it. She had forgot to put any sugar in it, or anything really. But again, she didn't care. She just kept on drinking it straight black.

Weiss had really misjudged Nora's character it seemed. And still, Nora continued. "You know, your situation is something I'm really interested in Weiss." Weiss looked up at the mention of her name. "Your feelings for Jaune, his feelings for you, what role your sister is playing in all of this. You know he's going to choose you, right?" Nora took another sip. "It's always been you, Weiss. It'll never be anyone else. I see the way he looks at you, I've heard the way he talks about you. He loves you. It's that simple. And I know you love him too. Don't worry about your sister, it's just a crush, it'll go away."

"Nora, how do you know this?" Weiss asked, growing more hopeful of her future.

"You know, it's not so much of a secret to anyone but Ren, but I'm in love with him. Have been for a long time now, and everyone can see it, except for him. But that's because I've made my affection seem so normal, that he doesn't think twice about it anymore. To him, I'm just showing off our friendship to the world. But really, I'm just a coward. A coward who can't tell the man she loves that he's the one for her." Another sip. "Take my advice, Weiss. Once this is all over, don't wait. Just run to him, show him how much you want him. Kiss him, take him out, hug him and never let go, whatever you want, just make sure he knows. Or else it'll get to the point where you're so sure he'll reject you that you can't even think about confessing."

Weiss thought about her words and smiled. "Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks, Nora." Nora chugged her coffee, finishing it off with a sigh and a shiver as the taste rolled past her tongue.

"Really what you should be worried about is yourself, Weiss. Just as I should be more worried about all my little destructive habits that I keep to myself, so should you be worried about yours. It's not healthy to sulk quietly, alone in the corner without telling your friends you're even hurting in the first place." Weiss tensed up, freezing at her words as worry filled her mind.

"Is it really so obvious that I'm keeping this all piled up?"

"So you admit to doing it then?"

"Of course, it's always been a bad habit of mine, to run away from things, to not face them, to just keep it all buried inside until I can't take it anymore. I've tried being more open, I really have. But letting you all see the side of me I never let show is one of the most difficult things I've ever done!"

"But you're doing it now." Weiss closes her eyes lays her head down on the tabletop. "Weiss, it's never easy to open up to people, because then they have the power to make, or break your heart. In many different ways. But opening up to the _right_ people, is quite possibly the greatest feeling in the world. But it's up to you to decide who the _right_ people are." Nora gets up from her seat, pushing the chair in. "Just think on everything I said, okay? I'm going to try to get a few more hours of sleep before everyone wakes up. Hopefully then I'll feel normal again, more energetic. Less, like this, I guess." As Nora walked away from her, she held out a hand and stopped her.

"Nora, wait!" She turned and looked at Weiss curiously. "Do you think, we could do this again sometime? Just sit and talk? It was nice." She smiled and nodded happily.

"Of course, Weiss, anytime!" She replied cheerily. She turned and walked away again, exiting the lounge with a bit of a skip in her step, leaving Weiss alone once more. The silence seemed deafening in comparison to Nora's voice. It felt empty. But at least it gave her some peace to think, and she had a lot to think about.

* * *

Author's Notes: Hey all, I finally managed to do something. I don't know anything about this story anymore... I don't know if it'll be finished soon, and odds are, it'll completely change into something that's so different from what I had originally planned that it won't be 'Winter' anymore. I'll probably have to edit the title in some way, or the description. Most definitely the description if it goes in a completely different direction than what I had planned. You see, I had an ending planned out. But now I hate that ending, and I don't want to use it at all, so I'm going to focus on character's and relationship building for a while, maybe, perhaps, not sure... And before you guys comment on Nora's complete and total personality change, let me tell you something, I have ADHD, and I know it probably sounds really stupid, but I feel as if Nora has it too. Now of course it isn't like... Set in stone, or confirmed by Miles, or Kerry, or anyone really. But I wanted to implement it in some way, wanted to put my personal experiences in.

Now another thing I want to tackle real quick is the character's themselves. You've all more than likely noticed that I use headcanons a lot, and I try to differ from actual canon. Not so much to the extent of taking away their personalities, but to giving them unique traits that I feel makes them a better character, or at least more relatable to some people. These characters, despite not being made by me, have become my own characters. Kind of. I write them all a certain way, I develop my own versions of them. And I'm glad you like my writing so much to continue reading these stories of mine, because I know a lot of people hate when the characters are even the _slightest_ bit off from canon. It really means a lot to me.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for reading. Here's hoping that I've got a lot more coming in the future, because my mood for writing has been very fickle lately...


	7. Chapter 7

Jaune sat as far away from the window as he could, clutching his stomach as his body threatened to empty its contents onto the floors of the airship. He could feel the world spinning around him as they flew, every single bump of turbulence seemed as if they were crashing. As his vertigo grew worse, he moved to grab onto the arm rests tightly, closing his eyes and counting slowly to ten. It worked a tiny bit and he sighed in relief. To put the feeling at the back of his mind, he started thinking about other things.

His life seemed like a good thing to think about, mainly, how he got to this point. Riding in airships almost weekly. When he was younger, his motion sickness wasn't as bad, but it was bad enough that he swore to never ride in an airship as long as he lived. Oh, if only he could go back in time and tell his younger self how stupid he would feel for doing that. Hey, he would say, you know that later on in life, you'll sneak your way into one of the top school for hunters in training, and then ride in airships nearly every day? He had a feeling his younger self would scoff at him, perhaps even attempt to beat him up for trying something so stupid.

He knew his sisters would. They would gang up on him, and they wouldn't let him go until he had at least one bruise from each of them, just so he could look at them and remember how stupid he was. He laughed at that, his stomach finally settling a little more. He missed his sisters, especially the youngest of them. She would be finishing fourth soon, oh how fast they grow. She wouldn't need her older sisters to look after her anymore. In fact, if he knew them, they would probably end up making her a weapon and teaching her how to use it for self defense. Or at least, the ones attending Signal would.

He was so proud of all his sisters, and they were proud of him, he would never forget the looks on their faces when he told them all he was going to Beacon. In fact, he was the reason three of them decided to go to Signal. And that is why he could never tell any of them that he faked his way in. He sighed and opened his eyes once more, noticing that snow and frost has gathered on the windows. A voice sounded out of the speakers that they would be landing shortly. He was thankful he brought his coat.

* * *

Winter felt not at all like her usual self, and that was utterly terrifying to her. She had tried everything she could that she knew she liked doing, desperate to feel better than she currently was. She wrote poetry, painted, even took a long hot bath, but despite it all, she still didn't feel any different. If she had to describe the feeling, she would call it gray, mostly boring. Kind of like watching paint dry. And while she would often use that to describe her normal life, this kind of watching paint dry felt entirely different than the other kind.

Maybe, she thought, she was just hungry, or something silly like that. But then she thought that that was stupid, and scolded herself for even thinking that. It was a testament to how desperate she was thinking something like that. She sighed, and decided that maybe eating was a good idea. She ate only a few hours ago, but eating always made her feel better. She knew that was a bad sign.

Perhaps, after all these years, after all this time, she was finally letting the loneliness get to her? She shuddered at the thought, if that was the case, she needed help. And needing help is possibly the worst thing in the world when you have no one who CAN help. She walked down to the kitchen, completely dreading how long it took to get there. It gave her time to think, and thinking wasn't something she wanted to do. She found herself thinking a lot more than usual, and very often thinking turned out to be a bad idea, because then she thought of her friends, and in doing so she thought of Jaune. And when she thought of Jaune, her face would flush, and she would get all trembly, and then she would feel weird, and then she would do something awkward.

She continued, opening the kitchen door and immediately stopping as she smelled the bacon on the stove. She blushed and nearly screamed when she saw Jaune cooking food. In her kitchen. Not at Beacon. "Oh, there you are, I've been waiting for you to come down here, I didn't want to disturb you while you were doing whatever. I got hungry so I asked one of the servants if I could make some food." Winter only stared as he continued talking awkwardly. "...and then they let me in and I told them I wanted it to be a surprise. And then they asked if I wanted them to go get you, but I said n-"

"Jaune, what are you doing here?" She asked, her voice wavering. Tears started falling as she smiled, she wiped them away and walked up to him, hugging him tightly.

"I told you I would see you soon, didn't I Snow Angel?" He ran his hand through her hair, she blushed and hugged him tighter. "I missed you." He said as he hugged her back.

"I missed you too, Jaune! I miss all of you so much!" He smiled and let go of her, going back to cooking.

"Do you want some?" She nodded enthusiastically and went to sit down at the table.

"So how long are you going to be here?" She asked.

"A week, more if your father takes longer than expected."

"Wait, what?" She suddenly remembered her father. What would he say to one of her friends staying over? Especially a boy?

"Your father, he's on a business trip isn't he? That's what the maids are telling me, anyway. they say that I'm very lucky he isn't here, as he's been in a bad mood lately."

"I had no idea…" She answered. "I haven't talked to him since I first got back, I've mostly stayed in my room, thinking of-" She blushed again and shook her head. "I've mostly stayed in my room. Some close family we are, huh? All scattered about, and no matter how close we are, we don't talk to each other." Jaune sat the food in front of her and took a seat next to her.

"Hey, some people just don't have a close family, it happens. I know it sucks, but that's what friends are for. That's why I'm here. You have me for a whole week, alright?" She smiled and started eating.

"Alright!" She felt butterflies at his response. A whole week, huh? She was going to make it count.

* * *

Winter basically threw open the door to her room, excited that she finally had someone to show her work to. The only person who she had ever shown her creative side to was her sister, who would always compliment her and tell her how much she had improved. But that had been a long time ago, and Jaune was a different person, who knew what kinds of things he would say? Jaune let out a surprised gasp and ran up to the easels that were displaying some of her latest pieces. "Y-you painted these?" He asked, completely breathless. She nodded.

The paintings were done in such a way that they resembled nothing, yet everything all at once. To the untrained eye, they would just be a bunch of paint splotches on white paper, but Jaune knew better, having sisters who had always did stuff like this. If one looked deep enough, you would see magnificent structures, deep seas and perhaps even a portrait of the painter herself. "I know they're not real art, just a bunch of paint smears, but…"

"No, don't say that, this is real art." She looked at him with eyes full of happiness. "Technically, this may be just a bunch of paint, but you could say the same about all those famous paintings in the museums. This still required creativity, this still came from your hand, this _is_ art. And never tell yourself it isn't." She ran up to her bookshelf and picked out one of the leather journals from the section labeled 'poetry'. She danced back to him with glee, handing it to him and entreating him to read it.

He opened it up and began reading, she blushed as he sat down on her bed and furrowed his brow. She watched as he turned a page. And another. And another. She grew even more embarrassed as he began smiling, he looked up to her and handed the book back. Jaune knew based on her excitement, that all of this stuff had to have been very important to her. The fact that she was so eager to show him was endearing. "That's some really good writing, you have quite the way with words." She nearly shut down, numbly sliding the journal back into place.

"Oh… It's not really… That great." She was practically hiding her face behind her hands, more as an instinctive reflex than a cognizant reaction. Jaune laughed and looked around at everything else Winter's room had to offer. It was quite large, much to his astonishment. Certainly a lot more than a girl of Winter's size needs, but he figured that if their roles were reversed he wouldn't much mind it. Not at all actually, when he was a child, he would have killed for a room this big, what with having to share all his space with his sisters. Not that he considered that bad.

His astonishment faded. "So, where exactly am I going to stay? You have a guest room, right?" He asked, hopeful that it was just as large and had a bed that looked as comfortable as hers did. To his surprise, she shook her head. "So then where am I going to sleep?" She blushed again at the question and smiled awkwardly. His expression turned blank and instantly his thoughts began to shut down.

Winter knew she was lying, but honestly, she couldn't care less. This was a perfectly good chance to… Get closer to him, she felt. Even if it was kind of wrong, in some ways. And she really didn't feel like sleeping alone again, so many nights completely alone after getting used to sleeping in the same bed as her sister, she really had enough of it. And it didn't hurt that he had apparently gained some muscle over the time she had left Beacon- _No! Bad Winter, no awkward thoughts! Not while he's here! Or at least, not while he's in the same room as you… Yeah, that's better._ Winter cursed silently, what the hell was wrong with her, she wondered.

Winter knew exactly what it was of course, she had been warned by Weiss in advance, and even taught these things in ways that she never _ever_ wanted to think back on, but it had never been this bad, it was as if she was just now learning how much puberty sucked, even though she had already been going through it for years. She also never did… _That,_ as much until she had met Jaune. Maybe it was the impact of her first crush that did it to her, but suddenly she had found herself weak willed, and weak kneed when thinking of him, and she absolutely hated that.

It just felt plain wrong to think of someone like that, especially if you know the person, and consider them to be one of your best friends. And now that she really thought about it, she didn't want Jaune to sleep in her bed, not at all, because things would probably get awkward REAL quick! But she had already said there weren't any guest rooms, despite how unlikely that was, Jaune seemed to have fallen for it, and she was kind of upset with his naivety for once.

There was no way she could go back on that without sounding like a creep. Which she totally was for even thinking about doing this in the first place! She sighed, but then immediately tried to hide it with a forced giggle. _I suppose this is what I get… I hate karma._

* * *

Author's Note: GOD, so awkward. Sorry not sorry, but I just wanted to make this super awkward for everyone. Not as good as my last chapter tbh, but eh, I've put out worse. To be completely honest, since I am not a female, I have no idea how realistic this whole scenario will be, especially since I'm not sexually attracted to guys, but so far, everything has worked out for me when writing these characters, and I haven't had any of my female readers go "this thing you wrote is actually wrong..." Somehow. But please, I beg you female audience, if I get something wrong, send me a PM, correct me. I need to know this stuff. Also, one other thing, what do you guys think I could do to improve? It's gotten to a point where I'm actually considering to write for a living.


	8. Chapter 8

Weiss sat idly by the window and watched the rain hit the glass, her teammates all quietly studying behind her. Zwei sat on her lap as she stroked his back gently, rubbing his ear with her other hand. She smiled at the way his head lifted in anticipation of her next stroke, and at the way his tail wagged with all of his little puppy dog strength. Weiss had to admit, she had grown to love Zwei more than she thought she would. She knew she had a weakness to anything cute, she just wasn't usually a dog person. More of a cat person really, like hell she was letting that info leak out though. The last thing she needed was Yang teasing her and Blake about it.

She placed Zwei softly on her bed, reminding herself to 'de-fur' it later. Usually her teammates would look at her like she was crazy for even thinking of letting an animal on her bed, but more than once she had responded with "only the best for our sweet little puppy," in what they could only describe as the cutest voice to ever come out of her mouth. The others watched as she left the room, only giving a brief answer as to where she was going. "I'm meeting with Nora," she had said, they all nodded, knowing immediately where she was headed. Ruby's eyes twinkled, glad that Weiss was finally starting to break out of her shell more.

Weiss' spirits lifted as she made her way to the same spot as last time. It would be empty, it always was, they would be able to have a nice conversation there. As she rounded the corner, she saw Nora sitting at their table with two mugs sitting in front of her. The smell of hot chocolate surrounding them.

After their first encounter, Weiss could tell that coffee really affected her negatively, and so later that same day - after seeing how much worse she was than when they had had the conversation - she somehow talked her out of drinking any more with the help of Ren, and she promised to stick to hot chocolate, and maybe a glass of warm milk if they didn't have any. As Ren had thoughtfully mentioned, hot drinks calm her down by a noticeable amount. At least, enough for them to have nice, calm conversations that have nothing to do with pancakes or sloths. Nora sat up and waved excitedly, making Weiss' smile bigger. A wave of happiness washed over her, and she knew it was all thanks to the, as Weiss had noticed, adorable girl in front of her. Having friends is one thing, but having a friend who you know you can talk to about anything is even better!

"Weiss-y!~" Nora sang as she approached. She sat down across from her and accepted the mug of coffee that Nora was holding out for her with a small thanks. "How have things been?" Weiss laughed at this.

"Well, Ruby decided it would be a good idea to blast a hole in the wall of one of the training rooms, but other than that, things have been good!" She replied. "Since we saw each other yesterday." She added humorously. Nora giggled.

"I heard about that, and then Goodwitch came in and gave her quite the talk!" Weiss remembered that well, she also remembered the way Goodwitch clearly held back her full wrath in favor of sparing Ruby any harsh punishment. Students exploded all the time, it just seemed as if Ruby exploded more than any. True, once she herself had been the cause of one isolated incident that spawned the nickname 'Crater Face,' and although Ruby constantly said there were no hard feelings, she still couldn't help but feel upset with herself for being so careless with the dust.

Maybe in another universe they could have met on better terms, though Weiss sincerely doubted she would have liked Ruby anyway. "Goodwitch did indeed, but she went easy on her, as always. If you ask me, there's something fishy going on between her, Jaune, and Ruby. She never seems to get onto them as she does others." And that was true. Even Nora could tell you that, as inattentive as she was, she did pick up on a lot of things.

"Maybe she just has a soft spot for them, you know some teachers favor certain students. Like you, and how Professor Port always chooses you to answer everything." Weiss groaned, annoyed at the thought. "What?"

"Don't get me started on Port's class, you know how much it sucks being targeted like that? I feel like I have to duck under the desk every time he asks a question! I don't understand why he doesn't choose Pyrrha, or even Ren! They're just as smart as me, if not more so!" Nora wanted to stand and shout, wanted to agree with her about Ren, and about Pyrrha because they were her teammates, and close friends. But she didn't. And instead simply nodded in support.

"I'm sure it's exhausting walking in the class and immediately being greeted like that." Nora puffed out her chest and lowered her voice in an exaggerated imitation of Port's voice. "Ah, Miss Schnee, so excellent to see you this morning! Can you tell me all about the various types of Grimm you'll see in the Emerald Forest, and write a fifty thousand word essay on Beowolves." She stuck her finger in the air and posed gallantly in her chair, causing Weiss to laugh at the ridiculous display.

"The resemblance is uncanny!" She said in jest. Nora was so happy to hear her laughter, she knew that Weiss needed it, perhaps more than anyone. While it was odd to see her laugh at something so silly, it was nice. It was a sign that she was starting to break away from her old life, bit by bit. Weiss had been expecting the exchange to be dreadfully awkward, and she was thankful that Nora was so charismatic as to immediately start talking as if they were old friends. It was a trait she admired "So how have things been going with the Ren situation?" Nora's smile fell immediately, and her whole cheery demeanor changed to that of someone going through a harsh struggle.

"No change, not even a little bit. You know what the worst part is about all this?" She threw her arms out in frustration. "I want to tell him, but I feel like if I do I'm just going to embarrass myself. I know that's not true, he would let me down gently if he had to, it probably wouldn't even hurt me it would be so gentle." She scoffed at her fears.

"It's only natural to be worried and fearful of being rejected, Nora. You know how much I worry about this stuff with Jaune? A lot, and I know for a fact he feels the same way about me, so my fears are completely ridiculous."

"Glad to see you realize that, then. You have nothing to worry about. And neither do I, I'm being even more silly about my situation, honestly." Weiss was about to reply, but paused to think.

"Hey, Nora?" She said, almost hesitantly. Nora looked up and made a sound for her to continue. "What… What if we just told them both?" Nora flinched back and gave her a look that absolutely screamed 'are you crazy?!' "Now, hold on, I know it's not exactly that simple… It would be really hard, but, I'll tell Jaune as soon as he gets back, if you tell Ren. We've already established that the only reason we haven't told them is because we're just scared, and doing this would fix a lot of things that our cowardice has caused. This is all just so… Silly. And if we'd just reach out and take what we want, wouldn't things be better?"

"I… I want to. You have no idea how much I want to let him know how much he means to me, but do you honestly think I can just do that?" Weiss smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"Nora, you just admitted that not doing it is silly, and I agree, we've just been sitting around for too long, we need to do something!" Nora seemed to think on her words for a while. She could see the truth behind them, they _were_ just being silly, and all the drama, or lack thereof really, it was more like feelings that never needed to be felt, could have been avoided so easily had the just told them long ago. Things went totally silent, and Weiss too fell into thought. Could she tell him? Could she just say the one thing that was unspoken between them? Just one little phrase, that she and Jaune both knew to be true, yet haven't said once. That was all, and it seemed like the hardest thing in the world to actually say. But just as she was about to pull out of doing it, Nora spoke up.

"Yeah. Okay, I-I'll do it. I'll tell Ren how I feel about him."

* * *

Nora could feel her lungs denying the air she was trying so hard to breathe, as she shifted left and right, squirming under the thought that she would soon be face to face with Ren, confessing all the feelings she had ever held back in front of him.

She could feel Weiss' eyes watching her every nervous move, and she never felt more like she had been betrayed as Weiss pushed her into the room, only being occupied by one person at the moment. "Nora… What are you up to now?" Ren asked, his eyebrow raised in suspicion, that normally would be completely warranted, but now only served to make her even more nervous.

"I-I'm not doing anything, I promise." She stuttered out. Ren, sensing her distress, dropped whatever he was doing immediately and walked up to her with a worried look in his eyes. He narrowed them and looked over her, and not seeing anything physically upsetting moved to leer into her eyes. Nora started to sweat.

"You appear to be nervous, Nora, is there something you want to talk about?" He smiled, his eyes lighting up in a sort of understanding that Nora was sure meant that he knew. The knowledge that he could see right through her chilled her to her bones, and she shivered, glancing curiously to and fro, trying her hardest to draw attention away from her darting pupils.

Whenever he looked her in the eye, her heart would hammer away as if forcing a nail into something that was being too stubborn to accept it, and it wouldn't stop for hours. Her hands fidgeted about, and Ren, knowing that this meant she was about to make a run for it, reached out and grabbed her arm. She gulped as he continued to goad her on with his eyes. "Nora, what's up?"

"Ren." Her eyes grew wider and she felt her cheeks warm up, she closed her eyes as she brought her attention to his hand, his fingers interlocked with hers. When had he managed to do that? She looked up at him, his lips, his eyes, his… His everything. And she knew that this wouldn't be as hard as she always thought. "I love you." His grin grew wider, and he brought his free hand up and gently booped her.

"Boop." Her eyes misted over, and a happy tear fell at the realization that all along, he _knew. _He knew what it had meant all along.

"Come on, I want to tell Weiss and the others! We can tell Pyrrha when she gets back, and we can text Jaune after!" Before he knew what was happening, he was being pulled over to team RWBY's dorm.

Weiss was expecting a lot of things. For one, she was expecting Nora to come into her dorm and tell her and the others that she and Ren were now together-together. But what she wasn't expecting, was for Nora to come into the room, Ren in tow, in the calmest state she had ever been in. In fact, Nora's cheeks were so pink that she was pretty much able to piece together what had happened faster than Nora could say "he kissed me!"

Weiss shook her head and looked around the room as the others were now celebrating, asking Ren why it had taken so long. He just sheepishly looked back at Nora and rubbed the back of his head. "He kissed you…? Oh my gosh, Nora that's amazing!" And much to her own surprise, she was hugging Nora so hard that Nora was having trouble breathing. She let go as soon as the thought of kissing Jaune appeared in her head. "Oh my gosh, Nora, I'm doomed!"

* * *

Winter was doomed. She stared at the clock on the wall, willing it to slow down, but it wouldn't listen as it seemed to be moving faster and faster. Any minute now, Jaune would say that he was ready for bed, and she would have to share her bed with him. Any minute now, he would be walking out of her bathroom dressed in sleeping clothes.

She blushed, trying not to think of him in any lewd way. "He's only brushing his teeth right now, Winter, just calm down. No bad awkward thoughts, and everything will be perfectly fine!" She whispered the last bit to herself until Jaune came walking out of the bathroom dressed in a very loose fitting shirt and pants set. She breathed a sigh of relief. He was wearing much safer clothing than she thought he would be wearing.

The two of them stared at each other, and Winter smiled a large - perhaps a little too large - smile, and drummed her fingers on her knee. "So…" She turned the other way, cursing at her lack of experience. She had trouble interacting with people if she was alone with them, but it was never as bad as this. She knew it was because of her stupid crush, and she knew that the worst was yet to come.

"Yep." She made a popping noise at the p. "Er, are you ready for bed?" He merely nodded and she quickly made for the bed, and buried herself under the covers. "That's great, me too, can't wait for tomorrow, going to be so fun, we'd better hurry up and get some sleep, huh?" She said too fast for him to comprehend, and Jaune had to pause a moment to think about what had just come out of her mouth.

He was sure even Nora would have to think for a moment to understand her. He climbed into the opposite side of the bed, making sure there was enough room between the two of them to not make things totally awkward. She clapped and the lights went off, suddenly making everything too real. She was alone, in the dark, with a boy in her bed.

For a long while, both of them just lay there. It was clear to them, even though they couldn't see, that neither of them were asleep. The air was thick with a feeling that one could categorize as unpleasant. Jaune cleared his throat, wondering if he even had the guts to try anything. He knew, that just laying as stiff as a board, and letting things keep on as they were, was going to get him nowhere in figuring out his feelings for Winter.

Slowly he slid over to her, completely unsure of what exactly he was doing. Winter froze, terrified of what was to come, but whatever she had subconsciously thought was going to happen, didn't, and she felt an arm being slung over her side as she settled into being held close by Jaune.

She started breathing heavily, and Jaune swiftly backed away, feeling as if he had made the wrong move, but she reached and grabbed his arm, pulling it back around her. Neither spoke a word, instead choosing to simply let the the situation sink in, and much to Jaune's surprise, Winter backed further into him, and she seemed to enjoy the contact.

Jaune knew a few things instantly from just this, and that was that having Winter in his arms felt completely different then Weiss. It still felt good, but Weiss felt better, and from this he gathered that Winter was definitely not the one. Or was she? She shifted, and moaned sleepily. Jaune felt a familiar feeling rise up in his chest, and he looked away from her guiltily. His feelings for her were completely platonic, she was to him a little sister, and he can't believe he made the mistake of thinking it was anything more once again.

* * *

Author's Notes: Well, I'm sure I've destroyed everyone's hopes and dreams, so my job is done. I'm sure you've all seen this coming from miles though.


	9. Chapter 9

The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the kitchen, as Winter and Jaune stared open-mouthed at the text he had received sometime the night before. In his shocked state, he had let his glass of water fall to the floor, yet neither one reacted to it, or to the maids furiously cleaning up the remains. "They're… Together-together," Jaune whispered to no one in particular. He had never believed it would happen. One day, perhaps, but not while they were still attending Beacon. The food lie cold and untouched on the table, and their previous conversation on famous poets went forgotten. Winter felt happy for her friends, but deep inside she felt disconnected, unhappy that she was still alone and somewhat uncertain of her future. They at least had it figured out somewhat, and judging from everything Jaune had told her about the two of them, and from what she learned when speaking to them, they were going to be happy for a long while. She wished she could feel that sense of security that came from being in a stable relationship.

She looked to Jaune as he finally sat down his scroll. The voice clip that played stuck on repeat as the photo of Ren kissing Nora on the cheek took up the screen.

"_Hey, Jaune, Winter, you guys aren't going to believe it, but the craziest thing just happened. Well, it's not really crazy, I'm sure you both saw it coming… Me and Ren are together now! Like, together-together! Isn't that great? Anyways, just wanted to uh, to tell ya, since you aren't really here to celebrate with us!" _Loud cheers could be heard in the background as what sounded like a party popper was set off.

"_Ruby! Now there's confetti everywhere, I said no party poppers," c_ame the voice of Weiss. Jaune smiled as he did every time her voice played. Winter clenched her fists and looked away for the umpteenth time, merely an instinctual reaction. It had felt so good to be in his arms last night, and she was even more sure of how she felt about him. There was something there, she could feel it. But the way he looked when he heard her sister's voice didn't really give her much hope.

"_I'm running out of time for this message, so I hope you two are having fun, but not that kind of fun, if you know what I mean!" _Jaune winced and Winter blushed, they were slowly becoming desensitized to that part of the message, but the effect it initially had was still very much there. "_I'll see you soon, Jaune! Hopefully you too, Winter!"_The message cut off and cycled back to the start, Jaune finally turned it off and pushed his breakfast away from him.

"Yeah, my appetites gone," he said.

"Mine too," Winter replied.

* * *

The knowledge that soon she would have to spill her guts out to Jaune was too much for her, and she was very nearly hyperventilating. Blake, Ruby, and Yang all gave her space. "I was going to back out, I was going to back out, but it's too late now!" Ruby smiled weakly and slid up next to her, breaking the gap of space between them on the bench. The cafeteria was all but silent as students talked to one another, and if one were to listen closely enough they could catch the beginnings and endings of sentences, often crossing over like a whirlwind of conversations. This was a normal sound to all of them, familiar, calming in a way. But at that moment, Weiss didn't like the noise at all. She would much rather have been in the dorm, thinking of just how she was going to confess to Jaune when he got back in peaceful silence.

"Weiss, everything will be fine. You know how awkward Jaune is about this stuff, the most that'll happen is he'll run. And if he does, you have us to hold him down!" A chorus of agreement echoed around the table.

"And if he rejects you, we can break his legs!"

"Nora!"

"Thanks everyone," Weiss said as Ruby slid an arm around her shoulders. "But I'd much rather do this on my own, you know, in private." And that was that. There was no more talk, just eating in silence as each one of them realized just how boring lunch had become. Since Nora and Ren had become a thing, Nora had been calmer than anyone had ever seen her, and without Jaune and Ruby's daily antics and friendly bickering, there wasn't much excitement.

In the silence, Weiss pondered on exactly what saying those words to Jaune would mean. Of course, it would mean a great many things. The exclamation of an unspoken truth, a proposal to be in a relationship, and even granting permission for him to… Kiss her. Just the thought of it was enough to send her into fits of broken words and flushed faces. He would, eventually, touch her. Caress her hair, her skin - every inch of it - and not to forget, he would even kiss it.

_All _of it. She could feel her cheeks fire up, and she pushed her food away from her and got up to leave. The others watched her as she went, but she paid them no mind. She rushed to the bathroom, and forgetting completely about the fact that she was wearing makeup (or just not caring), she turned on the cold water and splashed her face.

_Look up, in the mirror,_she did. _If you aren't going to listen to anyone else, then listen to yourself. You love him, he loves you, you're going to be fine. It'll be easy, and nothing you can do will mess it up. For either of you. _She finally allowed herself to calm down, and suddenly nothing scared her anymore. She could do it. And nothing was going to stop her from doing it. As soon as he showed up, as soon as she saw his face again, she was going to pull him aside, and she was going to do it. Even if she didn't really know what _it _was.

* * *

_He's doing it again, _thought Winter. Jaune checked his scroll and happily texted away, and she knew that it was her sister that message was being sent to. He never typed that fast for anyone else, and yet he also took the time to proofread it. To make sure there were absolutely no mistake. _Only the best for his precious Snow Angel. _That nickname had been Weiss' originally, but then he started calling her that. He never did anymore. It was as if it was suddenly reserved for Weiss once again. Winter felt sick. Acid forced its way up to her throat, and she swallowed it back down forcefully, hurting her throat with a gulp of air that managed its way down. She cursed silently in her mind, and felt for the first time true, unadulterated jealousy.

There was absolutely nothing she could do but sit back and watch him go to Weiss, after all he was in love with her. She sighed quietly and went back to doing her own thing while he sent text after text. The past days had been odd to say the least. He payed attention to her, yes, and he always gave her his time. They had conversations, they had fun playing games, and doing whatever, but it didn't feel like she wanted it to. At first she had been happy, but then Weiss started texting. Suddenly every few seconds he's checking his scroll, and she feels abandoned. Like he doesn't even know she exists for however long it takes to respond. All of his focus is taken up in thinking about what he's going to say to her.

She was absolutely fed up with it, and she honestly didn't know how long she could take it. She took a deep breath and calmed herself, remembering that more was on the line than a simple relationship with a crush. Her relationship with Weiss was far more important, and if it meant giving up Jaune to maintain it… But was she really willing to give that up? She knew that no matter what, nothing was going to change his mind. She didn't want to lose both Weiss and Jaune. Because in losing them, she also loses Ruby. As the harsh truth settled inside the pit of her stomach, she could feel the acid, unsettled, force its way up her throat. She swallowed painfully, feeling that the future would hold events far too hard to force down, like pills that were too large for her throat, or a vile tasting liquid claiming to taste like a grape but utterly failing at it. It was almost time.

She had been so happy to see him there, cooking in the kitchen. She had been so happy to talk to him, to hear his voice. But she knew from the start it was hopeless, and the smile on his face spoke volumes about how much he loved Weiss. Once the week was over, would she be able to look him in the eyes again? Would she be able to talk to him as she has been? Would the simple knowledge of the fact that they were never going to be together ruin everything between them?

No. She wouldn't let it. And she would make sure he was damn happy with Weiss.

* * *

Winter felt truly, honestly devastated. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it hadn't been a hug and forced smiles. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she envisioned tears, and perhaps a kiss on the cheek with romantic subtext if you read into it deep enough. But of course life wasn't romantic, and often times it was horribly straightforward. Even the most poetic of minds (or those that have a habit of thinking they're poetic) have moments they just can't find the emotion in. And the goodbye they shared was one of those times for Winter. The doors shut with an awful, dull bang, and the oversized entrance hall, with its huge, open space, and reverberating _ticks _and _tocks _from the grandfather clock filled her with fear. She was once again alone, and nothing could be done about it.

With her head down she walked to her room slowly, imagining the look on her sister's face as his airship docked at Beacon. Probably eager, a bit overexcited. She could see the exact face in her mind, perhaps a distant flash of memory from a time long past. A time when their Grandfather used to visit the manor and give them sweets and presents, his smiling face greeting them warmly as he stepped through the door with a pronounced cry of "I'm here, now where are my two special snowflakes?" And they'd come running excitedly down the halls, following the sound of his voice as he amusedly listened to the approaching pitter-patter of their tiny feet. Now everything had changed, and their grandfather passed on a few years earlier. He would be so sad to see how everything was now. How she and her sister's relationship had become strained, how there was mental anguish over things that couldn't be helped, and how there was loneliness when there should have been happiness.

Loneliness.

She let that word roll around inside her head, and it seemed perfectly true in that moment. She knew it wasn't, she had friends. And could you really be lonely if you have friends? She felt the familiar vibration from her leg, and she pulled her scroll out and smiled faintly as she read his message.

_Motion sickness sucks, _it read. She laughed (truly, wholeheartedly laughed) and she couldn't help but realize that it wasn't the end of their relationship. They would still always be good friends, and nothing could possibly change that. Not even jealousy or envy, and indeed there would be a lot of that coming soon. She was sure of it.

* * *

Happiness.

Happiness was what Weiss decided she was feeling. An emotion she seldom felt in large quantities. There was a skip in her step, and she looked the best she had since Jaune left. There was no heartbreaking news, and for that she felt truly blessed. She figured if something did happen between them, he would tell her immediately. But he didn't, so she can only assume that he was still open. And though it was still a tiny speck in the distance, she grew eager and just maybe a tad bit over excited at the fact she could see Jaune's ship coming in from the horizon.

As she stood with the others on the airship docks of Beacon, she felt hopeful that her first encounter with him after his visit would go well. She really didn't know what she was going to say, or what she was going to do, but the pep-talk she gave herself never really left her mind. _It_ was still a thing that was happening, but she was still left completely in the dark. One part of her brain screamed at her to do _it_, while the other side kept asking what _it_ was. It was terrifying, and a little bit exciting all at the same time, and she had talked to the rest of her team about _it_ non-stop. She held her skirt down as the airship landed, and as soon as he came out clutching his stomach in relief, she ran forward. "Jaune," she shouted in glee, and he laughed as he caught her mid-air.

"Woah, hey there Snow Angel. Did ya miss me," he asked cheekily. His response was a kiss. A deep, longing, personal (and a tiny bit sweaty) kiss. She put all of her love into it, all of the feelings she had ever felt for him. Anger, passion, angst, disappointment, fear, and even doubt went into it, and she had never felt anything more amazing. The stress, the tension, the doubt, it all just seemed to fly away as he returned it with equal amounts of everything included. And as they pulled away there was heavy breathing, and looks of surprise, as well as looks of amazement. "I love you," he said simply. And the look in her eyes, mixed with the tears that spilled as soon as the words left his mouth answered him before she even had the chance.

"I love you too."

The others looked on with joy, and even though they Ruby was confused she was also happy. Her two best friends were together, and they were happy and that was all that mattered. But she still wanted to know "what was that?" She giggled childishly as Weiss led Jaune off by the hand.

"That, my dear little sister, was _it._" And suddenly everything made sense. Ruby, Blake, and Yang all watched as she ran off with him, and Yang couldn't help but shout "use protection!" She could practically feel the heat from their blushing faces, even from their great distance apart. Ruby was about to as what she meant, when Blake pulled her away from the now hysterical Yang.

Finally, for Weiss everything seemed to be resolved. Of course, there was one more thing she needed to worry about. One more thing that would be even more difficult now. She would see it through to the end, and she would make sure everything was alright. She didn't need any more regrets in her life, and she would be damned before she let Winter be one of them.


End file.
